The Creator of Two Worlds
by Conflicting Chaos
Summary: In the beginning, there was one force. This force created two worlds. One, Earthland, was full of magical power, while the other, Earth, was devoid of it. Over 750 years after the creation of the world, Natsu Dragneel and Lucy Heartfilia are born in different worlds. Drawn together by some magical force, will they discover their own secrets? (NaLu) NOTE: Early writings, not good.
1. Chapter 1: History of the Worlds

**Alright, here's my first story. It's going to be rather lengthy. I doubt I'll do regularly scheduled updates but I hope that they are going to be rather frequent. Either way, without further ado, I present ****_The Creator of Two _****_Worlds_****. The first chapter, but real-time will begin in the second! (So I guess if you don't care about any of the history crap come back during chapter 2!)**

* * *

In the beginning, there was nothing. Darkness. Empty Space. Amidst the darkness there was one light. A light with a spirit, consciousness. This light become known as the creator. The Creator was a bright light, but not a white light. A golden flame that appeared to look something like a star. The Creator was devoid of gender, physical form, or any other limits. The Creator possessed huge amounts of power, so much in fact, that the Creator decided to create two worlds.

The Creator was lonely. It had no one to talk to, almighty as it is. The Creator decided to make two worlds, both full of magic as well as countless numbers of creatures and formations. The Creator was unable to come up with names for these lands, however, and decided to "leave them until further notice."

The first world the Creator made was known as "Earthland." It was expansive and held several creatures, including exceeds, vulcans, wyverns, and the most powerful, dragons. Humans also travelled the lands, being the second most intelligent creatures, under the rule of dragons. The Creator put great detail into the land, and finished off by placing a magical capability on the world.

The second world the Creator made was known as "Earth." It was also expansive, holding several continents as well as oceans. There were several creatures here as well, including humans. Humans in this world happened to be the most intelligent creatures. They ruled over the lands, being the most intelligent creatures. Unfortunately, the Creator's magical power began to drain further than he expected while creating this world. The Creator was not able to fully place magical capabilities on the land, so instead it allowed the land to accept and replenish magic, but not give magic to the users.

The Creator decided to place this form of magic onto the land in order to protect those who would travel from Earthland to Earth. However, the Creator did not plan on allowing that to happen. In fact, the Creator planned on being the only one who would travel from world to world in order to maintain balance. Unfortunately, the Creator drained the last of its magical power granting magical power to the lands. It knew that its demise was inevitable, so it cast a spell on itself.

"I am to be split in two, two different human beings that reside in two different worlds. I shall place this spell on myself in order to prolong my arrival to these worlds." the Creator began, "Unfortunately, I shall not be able to protect and watch over these worlds, so the beings in them will have to learn to live in harmony on their own. However, my two different human beings, one boy, and one girl, if they were to come together, they could summon the extreme magic power I posses in a special move known as Unison Raid." The Creator decided to cast a spell on itself, a splitter spell. It would not take effect for some time.

"As the creator of these worlds, I only hope for the best for each. I am upset that only one world possesses magical powers, but alas, I have not the capabilities to do so. Farewall, Earth and Earthland. This year shall be known as X1. History begins here!" the Creator said.

After the Creator finished his lecture, the both worlds began to organize into themselves. History began, and the Creator was frozen in two beings, a boy and a girl.

* * *

The history of Earthland began with the reign of dragons. Throughout the land, dragons were in charge. They had control over the lives of all, and were impervious to any other creature. All eventually gave way to the rule of the dragons. Until about the year X353, dragons were in total control of the land.

A dragon known to many as Igneel began to discuss the willingness to help protect human beings and live with them. He concluded that they have really adaptable minds and would make great companions of dragons. They would eventually surpass the dragons in knowledge so Igneel believed that they should be on good terms in case the humans rebel with technology in the future.

Some accepted the idea of befriending the humans. They imagined all of the cool technology that they could use if they sided with the humans. The dragons and the humans would live together, progress together, and create a better future.

Unfortunately, this did not go without opposition. In fact, a large number of dragons opposed this idea. They sought to prevent the coexistence of humans and dragons. To them, humans were merely food, and should stay that way. In order to protect this ideal, they began to attack humans who tried to befriend dragons.

The pro-coexistence dragons were enraged. They lost several of their friends, especially one night, in the year X367, when the whole city of Fiore, which would later become a nation, was attacked. Several thousand humans were killed in a single night just for having somewhat dragon smells that would come from being near the dragons. Even those who smelled entirely human were killed. In the end, the pro-coexistence dragons joined forces to defeat the anti-coexistence forces.

War plagued the entirety of Earthland for over a hundred years. Dragons after dragons falling because of the conflict. When it seemed to be over, the pro-coexistence dragons thought of a plan to easily win. Being outnumbered, they needed more forces, so one of them decided to teach the humans Dragon-Slayer magic. This magic would make them just like dragons so that they could kill the dragons. These humans quickly helped the dragons win. However, the dragon population was significantly lower. There were only about one hundred left due to the fact that most died during the war. The side with the least dragons left, the coexistence forces, were the victors. In the year X494, peace reigned in the world.

After news of several dragon slayers killing dragons, the dragons went into hideout. They planned their methods of befriending the humans but at the same time did not want to enact it anytime soon. They decided to at least let the humans enjoy their freedom from dragon cruelty. Meanwhile, the coexistence dragons hid in caves and lived alone, as they usually did. At any moment, they could have easily destroyed the human forces but decided against it because they didn't want to harm the humans.

After a single generation, the dragon slayers vanished from the world. They all eventually died off, leaving the humans, again, helpless from defending themselves against the dragons. It was X513, and dragon slayer magic would not appear again for over two hundred years. The dragons lived alone, while the humans developed their societies based on magic. Magic was the fuel for everything. They powered their homes with magic, they made things with magic, they even communicated with magic. Their magic was equivalent to Earth's electricity, except that it was an infinite source and never would be depleted. Magic fueled the lives and civilizations of the people.

One day, in the year X765, a pink-haired boy named Natsu Dragneel, was born.

* * *

[A/N: this is a bunch of semi-true history crap. Ignore the dates, please, just wanted it to fit with the story. I left a lot of important history out of it, but hey, you came for a NaLu fanfiction, not a history book. Besides it's summer, at least at the time of writing, so I doubt any of us want a history course right now.]

Meanwhile, in the world known as Earth, humans began to evolve in a much slower rate. It wasn't until the year X102 that fire was discovered, and farming was still 50 years away. The first civilizations developed in the year X210 in a river valley known as Mesopotamia. There, humans began to thrive, giving up their nomadic ways to become more intelligent. The Egyptians to the southwest were building pyramids that were completed in the year X310. The Greeks made several mathematical advancements while fending off the mighty empire of Persia to the southeast. They remained independent until the year X370 when they were conquered by the Romans. Romans developed much more standardized methods of technology, learning how to channel water into cities using aqueducts. They expanded upon the Greeks' mathematical discoveries until they too were defeated by invading Germanic Kingdoms. The land plunged into a state where intellectual activities were almost nonexistent.

Meanwhile, the lands of the far East, in China and Japan, similar advancements were being made. They contributed greatly to the intellectual knowledge of the times, and it was ultimately them who got their neighbors to the West out of their intellectual halt. They began to trade on a path known as the silk road, and many of the lands in the far east were united under the Mongolians. Their extremely large empire was in control until X587 when their lands rebelled and the nations became independent once more.

Advancements continued to be made, time and time again. It wasn't until the year X606, when the New World to the west was discovered. People from European nations began to colonize, but they didn't last long. In the year X650, one set of colonies, among many, known as the United States of America, rebelled from their European ruler. They became extremely powerful and dominated much of the land of the continent that would come to be known as "North America". They became influential in world affairs, helping nations across the world. Of course not everything they did was nice or just, but they were very powerful and sought democracy throughout the world. After helping Europe in X727-X732 in a massive war, they were seen as one of the greatest powers in the world.

It was in the year X767, on a day known to many as July 1, that the most powerful force in the world was born. A young girl, by the name of Lucy Heartfilia.


	2. Chapter 2: A Dream Like No Other

**Alright, so here's the second chapter. I know the first was probably really booooooring. I get it. Yeah well sometimes you gotta have the boring chapters to set the stages for the next, if you know what I mean. The Earth history was really terrible, IMO, but I had to do something and I wasn't about to make up something because then I might as well have called it Edolas. Alas, that's enough of my complaints? in the Author's Note Section. Anyways, here's chapter 2.**

* * *

It was night time. Natsu Dragneel, was 19 years old, living in the town of Magnolia since X777 when his best friend and foster-father Igneel left him. For a few years, Natsu was determined to find his dragon-father, stopping at nothing to search the country of Fiore. However, he has put it on hold after searching intensively for 3 years. In the year X780, Natsu returned to Magnolia and the Fairy Tail Guild which he joined only 3 years ago. He made friends and rivals, fought valiantly, and grew up to be a successful person. He had never dreamt of wandering away from the guild ever again... Until tonight... when he had a dream.

* * *

_"Psst. pst. Wake up Natsu. Wake up!" A voice shouted in the dark. Natsu Dragneel woke up, confused for a second, before falling immediately back to sleep._

_"HEY DON'T YOU IGNORE ME. GET THE HELL UP, DRAGNEEL!" the voice screamed again. This time, Natsu woke up and wandered to where the voice was coming from. He called back in reply, "Who are you? Where are you? COME OUT HERE AND FIGHT ME LIKE A MAN!"_

_"I'm not here to fight you, you IDIOT! I'm calling you because you have a destiny. DON'T FORGET THAT. You have to visit this land known as Earth, and there you will meet the other like you..." the voice said prophetically._

_"What's a destiny? Sounds yummy." Natsu answered, sleepily as drool began to fall down the side of his lower lip._

_"NATSU YOU ARE A DUMBASS! I WAS TOLD YOU WERE STUPID BUT REALLY! Oh whatever, just quit your yapping about food and follow me." the voice said._

_"Well how am I supposed to follow you if I can't see you?" Natsu answered back. 'Damn. I just got outsmarted by a kid who doesn't even know what a destiny is.' the voice thought to itself._

_"Oh what the hell, uh hmm... this may be a problem." the voice answered. "A PROBLEM? YOU WANT ME TO FOLLOW YOU AND YOU CAN'T EVEN FIGURE OUT HOW TO DO THAT. I SHOULD KICK YOUR ASS!" Natsu answered angrily. He headed back to his bed when the voice called him again._

_"Ok, I'll just explain the path as we go. Start by heading out the door, understood?" the voice said._

_"You better be taking me somewhere worthwhile. I swear if you make me ride a train I'm gonna beat you up." Natsu said, childishly._

_"Whatever, just follow me already. I'll show you where to go, and you make sure you keep up. Understood?" the voice said. "Great now come along, I don't have all day."_

_"Ok Natsu, so walk along the road. When you hit the first streetlight, turn right. I want you to follow that road until you reach an old building. When you get there, I want you to jump through the back window. You should end up in what looks like a bedroom. Go in the closet, and punch the back wall. DO NOT USE YOUR FIRE. Ok good, now, HEY NATSU LISTEN TO ME I'M TRYING TO TELL YOU SOMETHING. Where were we? Oh yeah! Keep going straight down the hallway, and when you reach the end of it, say, 'Open Gateway to Earth'. A purplish blue portal will show up and begin to suck you in. Jump into the portal and you'll arrive at the new world. Once you're there, you better not use your flames unless necessary. People there don't like fire so if you try to use it on them they'll attack you and swarm you. HEY ARE YOU EVEN LISTENING?" the voice explained._

_"Huh what? Yeah no flames, gotcha pal. So can I go to sleep?" Natsu answered while yawning._

_"When you get there. But first, when you arrive, I need you to do me a favor, I want you to go around and put your right wrist against any other girl's right wrist. If they start to glow, then you must take that girl to the place where you come out, chant 'Open Gateway to Earthland' and jump in with her. Understood? That is all." _

_"So uh, where do I sleep when I'm there. Do I get any munchies. What if I'm hungry? Is the food there good. I'm not going if the food isn't good." Natsu said._

_"Oh yeah the food's great, just like here. But it costs money too, and they don't use Jewels. However there's loads of cash where the portal puts you out, so you should be fine. There's an apartment there and you need to live in it until the time comes to return with the girl. Oh and most importantly, DON'T TELL THEM YOU'RE FROM ANOTHER WORLD!" the voice faded out while saying._

_"Ok well, looks like I gotta jump into the portal thingy. Here goes!"_

* * *

In a messy room, all that could be heard was deep breaths. Lots of panting. Natsu Dragneel sat up, confused by his dream.

_'It all sounded... so real. It felt like I really woke up last night'_ Natsu thought to himself. _'Oh well, better get to the guild, I'm going on a mission with Happy today! He found the best one ever and I can't wait to start on it! He told me to meet him at the guild, so I guess I just gotta go there.'_ Natsu got up out of bed and took awkward steps to his bathroom, careful to avoid all the trash on his floor. _'Man I should clean this up. Having a messy room like this is weak sauce.'_

Natsu got dressed in normal? clothing. _'Where'd I get these from. Looks like the stupid shit that popsicle would wear... for a couple of seconds until he was back in nothing but his boxers. Oh well, I guess it's the only clean thing in the house.'_ It was a long sleeve teeshirt that had an orange dragon that was breathing fire on the front. The dragon's body continued underneath his left shoulder and around to the back of his shirt where the tail was. He had black sweatpants on as well, and his signature scarf around his neck. It was an unusual look for Natsu, but he was forced to wear it. He didn't like it, and if one thing was certain, he wouldn't want to be caught wearing it. It looked... too weird compared to his normal attire. _'That ice princess probably won't leave me alone for the rest of the day'_ Natsu thought to himself.

He closed up his house, locking it, because he thought that it'd be a good idea to since he was leaving for a couple weeks on a mission on the opposite side of Fiore. That wasn't a problem for him, at least he didn't think it would be. He doesn't normally lock his house up, but since he's going to be gone, he doesn't want anyone to steal his food expenses. He technically owned the house, so no one would come looking for him for rent money, but he still did have to eat. So he locked up the place shut, preparing for his mission.

Walking down the street, Natsu noticed something that he didn't remember being there. A streetlight. It was the only streetlight of its kind in the town. Most of the town didn't have streetlights like this one. In fact, this place didn't have a streetlight before. Then his dream played back in his head. He remembered being told to go to the streetlight and turn right, follow the road to an abandoned house. This streetlight looked EXACTLY like the one in his dream. And it was the first on the road. It was the only streetlight that matched the others, so why not? I mean it's not gonna kill him, is it?

He began to follow the road, whistling a tune to himself. Oh how he loved his life. He began to think about all the times his friends were there for him, his foster-father Igneel and the great times he had learning Dragon-Slayer Magic. He thought about what it'd be like to see his father again. That'll be the day, Natsu thought. Then he started to begin to think about food, and before he knew it, he was in front a building. It didn't look abandoned like the one in his dream, but hey, it looked pretty damn close. It looked like a normal home. When he leaped in, he swore he could've heard screaming from a little girl.

"MOOOOOOOOOM! THERE'S A GUY WITH PINK HAIR IN MY ROOM AND I DON'T KNOW WHO HE IS!" the young girl shouted and ran off.

Oh shit. Natsu's gotta get in somewhere fast or else he's gonna get caught. He ran to the closet to avoid being attacked, at least he hoped to avoid being attacked. Then he started to hear whispers.

"Look sweetie, there's no pink headed freak in your room. It was just your imagination. It's not like it ever happened." an older female voice said. Natsu was angered by how he was referred to as a freak, but he knew he better lay low. After all he broke into a house just because of some dream.

"But MOOOOOOM! I swear he was in here, I swear! I mean he jumped in right through the window, can't you see? It's obvious that he was here!" the girl pleaded.

"Now now, how about I make you a delicious lunch to forget about this guy." the mother said. At that Natsu headed towards the closet door. He was so tempted to go outside and get lunch. Then he remembered that the food wasn't for him so he should keep silent.

With his advanced hearing, Natsu could tell that there was no one in the room anymore, so he punched a hole through the closet wall. Stepping through, that hidden hallway was there again. He walked down the hallway, noticing an odd smell he'd never smelled before. It smelled like... stardust. At that, Natsu reached the end of the hallway. Just like in his dreams, there stood a little pedestal, and he recited the words, "Open Gateway to Earth." He waited three seconds...

Nothing.

Three more seconds... Nothing. Natsu turned around to head home when all the sudden he felt a force tugging at him. At this, he turned around to see the purplish blue portal. Natsu thought he might as well head through there, not like it's gonna kill him or anything. Wait a second! It might! Oh crap. Too late, Natsu was already halfway through the portal when it started to close. Luckily for him, he managed to go inside it completely before it closed. As he was passing through the portal between worlds, Natsu realized he was heading to the "other world" as the voice had mentioned. He better learn how to live there.

What was it? Don't use fire because people will swarm you? Alright no fire. Unless bad guys show up. Then he uses fire. Without a doubt.

Jewels don't work. But there's tons of cash. Food still costs money though. Ok well that works. He just had to make sure he didn't use ALL the money in one night.

Look for the girl whose arm will glow when you put your wrist against hers. Ok well he could do that. If he was bored enough.

Take her to the portal and say "Open Gateway to Earthland." Ok well that's how he'll get back. Where's the portal summoned from? Oh yeah, the place he enters Earth from. That works! But he needs the girl to return. Oh crap, what has he gotten himself into. He hopes there aren't a lot of girls there or he might be there for a while. Might as well blend in, he figures.

After about five minutes, he jumps out on the other side. There, he finds an apartment similar to his house, except a lot cleaner. On the desk there's tons of green paper-looking stuff. [A/N: Just using USD because I'm not really into looking up another country's currency. Also I know money isn't made of paper, you learn that in like fifth grade or something. Just for story. Natsu isn't as smart as a fifth grader.]

He realizes that it must the money he needs for buying food and stuff. Is there a comfy bed? When he sees the bed, he jumps for joy and quickly lies down to take a nap.

* * *

In Earthland, by the portal, a man says before fading into the shadows, "Gihi, looks like Salamander is in Earth now. I doubt he'll survive but we do need him for the plan Gramps was talking about. I never thought I'd be saying this, but good luck Salamander."


	3. Chapter 3: New School, New Friends

**Alright, Third Chapter. Still Writing. This is going to be a long story. It'll take a while to write, but hey, I got lots of time to do so. Anyways, without further ado, here's the next chapter!**

* * *

It was early in the morning. Natsu woke up, frustrated. Some sound was playing in the room that was really starting to make him angry. What was it? Where was it. Natsu looked over to the round thing on his desk and saw that the beeping noise was coming from it. He slammed his fist down and was about to destroy it when he realized it probably wouldn't be a good idea. Instead, he hit the little button on the top that said, "Snooze." Natsu got up and looked around for things to do. He's gotta start finding people to check wrists with, so he might as well get a head start.

He looked over to a table on the side. He saw a little brown notebook lying on it. He opened it and examined it. It looked like some sort of rule list. He began to scroll through the list.

_1\. Hello Natsu, if you're reading this, Congratulations! Welcome to Earth! This land is different from your homeland of Earthland because it has absolutely NO MAGIC. ZIPPO! So be careful, you won't want to get caught using yours. Did I mention? Yeah you can use yours. But don't. If you do, people with blue uniforms come in and attack you. They hold up guns at you and they'll take you away if they see you with them. Worst of all, they'll probably make you some sort of weapon to fight other armies with. So don't do that!_

_2\. I don't know how you got here, but there's only one way out. Find the girl. If you don't find her, you're stuck here forever. Don't worry about your friends back home, time passes at the same rate it passes here. So you don't have to worry about anything bad happening. Just be careful, please. Also, I don't know if that voice told you or not, but the whole point of visiting here is to find that girl as you know, but the girl is about your age, just a little younger. I don't know where she is or what her name is, but she's younger than you, but not by more than 3 years. So look for people your age or slightly younger!_

_3\. Speaking on the note of that, you should probably enroll in Magnolia High School! I know it's weird, a town with the name of Magnolia that isn't your Magnolia. Well at least you don't have to call it a new town. When they ask your age, tell them that you were born in X767, instead of X765. Trust me, you're gonna want to lie and say you're seventeen because here the education system ends after the age of 17, unless you go to college, but that's a whole other story. Just sign up at Magnolia High School! _

_4\. Remember, I don't know if the voice told you, but you gotta make sure you don't tell them you are from Earthland. If anyone asks, just tell them that you live on your own and moved here because your friend did. Don't ever give this friend a name though. If anyone asks about this friend, change the subject._

_5\. Lastly, be careful Natsu. You don't want to get in trouble. I suggest you make friends at Magnolia High School. Listen to what the teachers say, and try to keep your grades above failing. They really don't matter since you're not going to live there, but at least don't screw it up, ok?_

_-Signed, Master G._

After reading the list, Natsu concluded it was time for breakfast. He looked in the fridge and found some milk. In one of the cabinets above the fridge in his new apartment he found some Lucky Charms [A/N: What hero doesn't love his Lucky Charms?] and put some in a bowl. As he began to pour the milk he started hearing a loud beeping noise. Natsu immediately jumped up, causing milk to spill on the table. When he found out the alarm clock was doing it again, he gave up and went to smash it. As soon as his fist was about to collide with the top of the clock, he saw that there was an "OFF" button. Pushing that, the alarm went off, and hopefully for good.

* * *

Natsu was wandering around the street. Where is this Magnolia High School? He began to look around the town, walking up and down the streets in search of the school. People were giving him odd stares, and he began to wonder why. He had no idea that pink hair was uncommon around here, especially for a guy. So Natsu walked down the street, oblivious to his surroundings, looking for the school. Finally, he gave up, and decided to ask for help. When he stopped a lady to ask for help, she pointed him towards the building right behind them. Embarrassed, Natsu said thanks and turned towards the doors.

As he walked into the school, he noticed that a lot of the people there ranged from 2 years to 6 years younger than him. He's not sure what goes on at this place, but he was told to listen to the people at the school. Probably the adults, at least that's what Natsu is going to do. He isn't going to take crap from anyone, but he does need to find this girl that he's told to have been looking all over for.

When Natsu finally got inside, he bumped into a girl. They both fell backwards and began to rub their heads at the same time. The girl spoke up, in a voice Natsu wouldn't ever forget, "I'm soo sorry! I wasn't looking where I was going and I accidentally ran into you! And dang it! My papers are all scattered on the floor." she said, starting to sound a little dejected.

Natsu sat a little confused for a few seconds until he said, "Oh it's not a big deal. I'm kinda new here, so I got no idea where I'm going. Name's Natsu, by the way." Natsu began to help pick up the girl's papers and ended up picking twice as many papers as the girl.

"I'm Lucy, thanks for helping me. If you haven't registered yet it's down the hall and to the left." Lucy said.

"No, I was about to ask, thanks for telling me though!" Natsu as he ran down the hallway all cheered up! Lucy swore she never saw someone as excited about school as him. It was almost as if he had no idea what he was signing up for.

Natsu walked into the room, and went to the office to sign up. As soon as he did, he received his schedule and was on his way. The people asked about his hair, and he explained to them about how it was natural and that he was born with it. He had no idea what he was doing, but he just wanted to get going with it and find out who the girl was who had the glowy-wrist, or so he called it. He decided to head home and wait for school to begin the next day.

* * *

The next morning, Natsu walked into school with the school uniform on. It was a simple tie and shirt uniform that most schools have. He didn't like the tie so he made it really loose and decided to wear the scarf over it. To hell with the rules, he thought.

Natsu was cheery that morning. Not only did he not have to wear that stupid outfit for a third day in a row, he found out how to turn the alarm clock off without having it go off a million and a half times. He thought about how smart it was not to break it. As he got to the school, he looked at his first class, English. He found the place after a bit of searching.

Natsu walked in and noticed that there was nobody that he knew. Oh well, he'll know them eventually, Natsu thought. Natsu went to sit in, ended up being one of the middle to arrive. He took his seat in the middle of the room. Behind him was a boy with blond hair, and in front of him a boy with black hair. When the blond haired kid saw him, he immediately said,

"Hey Pinky, what's up. You new here? The name's Sting. My friend in front of you is Rogue, but he doesn't talk that much. We're like brothers, we've known each other for the longest time. But enough about me. You got quite a bit of courage walking into class with pink hair you know that, the teach is gonna be pissed when he sees you." Sting said.

"Oh well it's naturally SALMON, not pink. But I don't give a shit what the teacher says. I don't have control over what color my hair is." Natsu answered.

"Yeah well I can't wait to see what teach says. I haven't seen another person with pink hair like that, you know. Does your whole family have that or something?"

"I don't know my family very well. They died when I was really young. I've been living on my own for a while after my foster father left when I was 10."

"Ouch that's cold. That must suck bro. Anyways, why you wearing that silly scarf, instead of a tie?"

"My foster father gave me it, and it's all I got to remember him by. So I'm going to wear it, regardless of what anyone says. Besides, the tie's on, just underneath the scarf and not really tied." Natsu answered cooly.

"SHUT IT KIDS, I AIN'T GOT TIME FOR YOUR PROBLEMS. IT'S CLASS TIME AND WE'RE HERE TO LEARN. NOW WE GOTTA A NEW KIDDY HERE TODAY, WHY DON'T YOU INTRODUCE YOURSELF." the teacher said.

Natsu stood up and introduced himself in three words, "I'm Natsu Dragneel."

"Well I'm your teacher. Got any problems you can forget about it. Why's your hair pink? You trying to stick out?"

"Well it's SALMON and NOT pink. Plus I was born that way. My hair is salmon and I can't do anything about it. So what's the problem?"

Ignoring the question, the teacher said, "Where's your tie, kid?"

"Underneath the scarf." Natsu answered, bluntly.

"I don't remember the scarf being part of the uniform."

"I don't remember giving a shit."

"Do you WANT detention?" the teacher said, full of rage.

"I'd prefer not." With that, Natsu sat down. It seemed as though the teacher had completely forgotten about the scarf.

For the rest of class, Natsu sat silent. He didn't care what the teacher was talking about. All he wanted to do was leave and get on with the day. About 20 minutes into class, Sting tapped his back.

"Yo Natsu you're quite feisty. I like that. I haven't seen another person willing to argue with teacher. You got guts and I respect that. How about you meet me after school underneath the cherry tree. I'll introduce you to my friends."

"Yeah sure, I'll be there." Natsu answered back.

* * *

For the rest of the day, Natsu would go to his classes and be questioned by his teachers. He would explain how his pi-SALMON hair was natural and how he wasn't going to take his scarf off. Even though it wasn't the right time of the year to be wearing a scarf. Some of the teachers questioned him about the scarf, calling it silly, and Natsu would mention his foster father and in the end most of the teachers sympathized with him and let him wear it. Still the few that didn't were too tired to do a thing about it. He saw Sting in his 4th and 6th classes and Rogue was in his 3rd and 4th. He saw that girl Lucy that he ran into in the hallway the previous day in his 2nd and 5th period classes. They waved to each other, but neither went up to talk to the other person.

After school, Natsu met up under the cherry tree with Sting and his buddies.

"This guy, you know, is Rogue. He's the silent type, but he's quite fearsome. He's really nice if you get to know him though." Sting said.

"This one's Rufus. I swear the kid has a passion for memorizing. He doesn't care about learning or anything, but if you tell him to memorize something he goes absolutely crazy. He's like a kid in a candy store in a vocabulary book. If you need homework help, he's the best to go to." he continued.

"Alright, this big lug here, his name is Orga. He's really strong so don't mess with him, but he's got a passion for singing. He loves to sing...really loves to sing."

"That's about all of us, I guess you tell us what you're up to." Sting finished.

"Well I'm Natsu Dragneel. When I was 3 years old both my parents were killed and I was left abandoned. Luckily, I ran into Igneel. He raised me as my foster father and taught me almost everything I know. Unfortunately, on July 7, X777, he left without a reason. I roamed around for a while until I finally settled in Magnolia. That's about all there is to me. Oh yeah, and I live on my own right now."

"Sounds like a rough past, I mean that's gotta be rough. Anyways, we can be friends and all, but I want you to do some sort of initiation before you become a member of this group. I know it's kinda cliché, but it's not my stupid idea. You can blame Minerva for it, she's made us do some...challenging things..." Sting trailed off, hoping not to go into detail about the things you're supposed to do.

"Where's Minerva, you didn't mention her before?" Natsu asked.

"Oh yeah! Forgot, see, she's not always here, but she's kinda like a ringleader. 'Long as you get on her good side you should be fine. She's really nice though if you are on her good side, but if you're not... I wouldn't want to be you." Sting said.

"So what am I going to do? And how do I get on her good side?"

"Oh simple! You just gotta do the 'initiation' crap she makes us do. It's really funny for the people who aren't the victims, but I feel bad for you. She usually makes it rough. I talked to her about it during third, and she came up with something truly evil. I hate to say it, but this one's really hard." Sting said, almost apologetically.

"What's it that I gotta do?"

"You have to talk to Lucy Heartfilia for more than 3 minutes." Natsu noticed a strong sense of compassion coming from Sting.

"So what's so difficult about that? Is she really mean or something?"

"Well she's perfectly normal. Actually she's really nice. But no boy has talked to her other than her boyfriend for the longest time. See, when she first came here, she had a hard time fitting in. One person though, Dan Straight, was really nice to her, emphasis on WAS. There's a rumor that he's begun to cheat on her with Sorano Aguria. Anyways, enough about her sob story. If you even TRY to talk to her, her boyfriend will get all up in your face until you leave. If you refuse he'll try to fight you, and he's really strong. He's not anything too difficult, I've whooped his ass a couple of times, but when he gets really pissed, he'll pull out a sword from his locker. Yeah you heard me, A FRICKEN SWORD. SERIOUSLY THE GUY HAS A BLOODLUST OR SOMETHING. One kid got sliced up so bad, he was in the hospital for a week. There wasn't a point in ratting Dan out because Dan's the son of the second wealthiest person in the city and could bail himself out and attack the person who sent him to jail. Dan always threatens anyone who comes near Lucy. He's a psychopath." Sting said.

"Oh sounds like an opportunity to fight! I'M ALL FOR IT!" Natsu cheered. "If that guy thinks he can take me down, he's got another thing coming. I don't care HOW MANY swords he points at me, I'M GONNA WIN!"

As Natsu stormed off in a bright mood, looking for a fight, Rogue asked Sting, "So who's gonna pay the hospital bill? I call not it!" Sting chuckled and said, "That Natsu has quite a bit of confidence, if he pulls this off, I don't think there's a thing he couldn't do." "Yes, yes, his confidence, I've memorized it completely." Rufus butted in. "STOP IT WITH THE MEMORIZING ACT, SERIOUSLY, IT'S CREEPY" Orga shouted at Rufus. He didn't realize that he has a REALLY loud voice, and Rufus was left with ringing ears for the next couple of minutes.

"Best of luck, Dragneel. You're definitely going to need it." Sting said, worried about his new friend. He added, "I really should speak to Minerva about these. Just because she doesn't want another person in the group doesn't mean she needs to get them killed."

With that, the Sabertooth gang dispersed and headed home in their own directions.


	4. Chapter 4: The Lonely Life of Lucy

**Weird, I wrote Chapter 5 first. I guess I wanted to add a little prelude. I don't know though, so here's Chapter 4. Just a heads up, it's probably not going to be very long. However, Chapter 5 is going up at the same time, so you'll have two to read. So for now, Enjoy this chapter!**

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Lucy Heartfilia, a young 17 year old girl who lived in the town of Magnolia. She was alone, lost, without friends. Her life wasn't very fun. She was rich, but she didn't grow up in happiness. Her life started out joyous, like any child's, but quickly turned for the worst when her mother died. Lucy's only friend in the world, her mother, had left and was never coming back. She was heartbroken, but she didn't have anyone else close to her.

Her father wasn't a terrible person. In fact, he loved his daughter a lot. But he had no idea how to help the little girl through the situation. He thought that she would eventually get over her mother's death and go on with life. Even when Lucy said mean things to him, he still loved her. He didn't know how to console her though, so he just busied himself with work so that he wouldn't have time to think of Lucy. He did, however, make sure she was taken care of and that she had people to talk to.

She became friends with many of the servants, upset her father wouldn't talk to her. She began to resent her father, but deep down still cared about him. She knew it was hard to look at the her when she looked identical to her mother. But she didn't feel that this was a reason to ignore her. No, she was a child and she needed a father figure. She became so upset that one day she decided to run away. She felt like there was no one in the world to care for her.

Then, she escaped to Magnolia, where she met Dan. Dan Straight was a handsome man who became Lucy's first friend. They found that they got along together and ended up dating. That was 6 months ago. Lucy was really easy to convince to date because she really wanted love. After all, she had lived without her father's love for several years, she didn't have anyone who felt that sort of connection with her. So when Dan asked for her to be his girlfriend, she accepted without a second thought.

She thought Dan cared about him. That Dan was a really nice person who looked out for her. She didn't see behind the things Dan was doing. When Dan would beat up people who would go near her, she thought that it was normal. That there wasn't anything wrong with that. She thought Dan was doing her a favor of not letting her see or talk to any other boys. She thought it was right, because Dan would tell her that they were all perverts that wanted to get into her pants. And she believed him, she trusted Dan after all. Dan was there for her when she needed him.

However, four months into their relationship, Dan began to stray from Lucy. Dan started hanging out with her less often, though he was still there for her almost every day. Dan would still not let her near any other guys, something Lucy thought was ok. But then one day, she met Sting. Sting was a nice kid, and she could tell that he wasn't trying to hit on her. In fact, he just needed some help with homework. Lucy saw how kind Sting was, and even though she didn't have any feelings towards him, she wanted to spend time with him. But before she could, Dan came back. Dan saw Lucy with another guy and was furious.

Dan wanted to fight Sting. So that's what he did. He charged at Sting, but Sting easily dodged and ended up completely beating the crap out of Dan. Still, Dan didn't want to look weak in front of other people, so Dan got a sword by using his father's endless supply of money. The next day he came into the school and pinned Sting against the wall with his sword telling him that if he went anywhere near Lucy that he'd be dead.

For the next several weeks, Dan was on high alert for guys trying to talk to Lucy. Lucy wasn't happy. She realized that there were people who just wanted to be friends with her like Sting, and weren't seeking a relationship. Lucy began to think back to the times she talked to people and Dan would beat them up. _Maybe they weren't after her in a relationship sense, maybe they just wanted to be friends._ Lucy began to resent the fact that she let this go on for a long time.

Lucy didn't know any better because she lived in a mansion all her life, away from social interaction. She didn't know that there were guys that just wanted to be friends. She was never told that. It may seem silly, but since Dan was the first guy that was Lucy's age that she met, it solidified the fact that guys were after girls for relationships. It didn't change until Sting came along and showed her that some guys just want to be friends and nothing more.

In about the 5th month of their relationship, Dan became as distant as he was before Lucy met Sting. In fact, Dan would go two or three days without talking to her, or even sometimes just dropping in to say hi and that he was going to be busy for a certain length of time. Lucy didn't meet up with anyone because after what happened with Sting, everyone knew to stay away from Dan. No matter how strong, Dan could threaten people with their lives and that was enough to keep EVERY guy away from her.

Then one day, during the sixth month of her relationship with Dan, she began to hear rumors that Dan was dating Angel. She immediately began to shove those aside, but as she became more and more curious, she began to suspect Dan all the more. It made sense to her, after all, Dan had been incredible distant for the last few weeks. She didn't think he'd do that to her though. He loved her, right? Of course, she just thought Dan was hanging out with some guy friends or was busy with schoolwork.

Later on, towards the end of the sixth month, she bumped into a guy in the hallway. She had no idea who the person was, she'd never seen him before. He must have been new. They said a few things and went their own ways, but she was sure that she'd see this person again. When he was in a few of her classes the next day, she saw that he was waving to her every so often. She was a little scared that he had no idea who her boyfriend was. He was new, however, and he did have pink hair, so maybe he just didn't care. Hopefully, she wouldn't meet up with him, because Dan would definitely show no mercy.


	5. Chapter 5: Taking on the Dare

**I just noticed that Chapter 1 is 1,761 words, including the Author's Note, Chapter 2 is 2,303 words and Chapter 3 is 3,076 words. Wow it's a good thing these chapters are getting longer and not shorter. (Yeah well Chapter 4 was just over a thousand words so... yeah no.) But don't expect them to get a thousand words longer each chapter! Otherwise at like Chapter 17... 17k words... Yeah not gonna happen. But I hope to get most Chapters in the 2k-4k word range! On another note, I'm pretty glad I started this in the summer. I don't know if I'd have the time to write a pretty lengthy story in the winter, especially with school and all. But Hey, it's July 1st at the time of the author's note. I guess that this story will go up on the Second of July! (Sorry bud, it's going up on the third. Didn't mean to get your hopes up, past me). (Oh yeah I added the parentheses sentences after I wrote Chapter 4... so yeah!)**

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Natsu hurried off cheerfully! He was so excited. Now if only he could find this Lucy girl, then he could get into a fight. A FIGHT! It's just like home, Natsu thought. He realized though that he should probably keep his magic until he needs it, hopefully when the guy decides to pull his sword out. That would be better at least.

Then it hit him... does he even know who Lucy Heartfilia is? Surely he knows a Lucy, but is that Lucy the one he's looking for? Oh well, he figures, might as well check. He began to look around the entire school building. School was let out only 10 minutes ago, so he hopes that Lucy is still here. He's aching to fight someone since it's been A LONG TIME since he has. I mean it's been like what, TWO DAYS since he last fought someone. That's way too long in his opinion. Even the ice stripper would do for him now.

He looked everywhere, up and down the hallways, he peeked his head through the windows of each classroom door that had lights that were on in case she was in detention. He walked down to the main entrance of the building, scanned the outside again, noticing she wasn't there. He went back in and checked the library, and lucky for him, happened to find her sitting in the back corner of the room reading a book. He approached her, a little shy, and said,

"Hey, are y-you Lucy Heartfilia?"

"Uh yeah, but please just call me Lucy, I don't like that last name of mine. It makes people think I'm some kind of rich snobby girl." Lucy said.

"Oh ok, just making sure, and I don't think you're snobby at all. You certainly don't act rich, if you know what I mean." Natsu answered.

"Thanks for the compliment, Natsu was it? Oh yeah! You're the guy I ran into yesterday with the cool pink hair!" Lucy said in between laughs.

"HEY! It's not pink it's SALMON! Geez, everyone keeps saying it's pink. I mean it's not like I have bad vision or something." Natsu said, defending himself.

"Well you don't need do get so worked up about it." Lucy said, then chuckled. "By the way, I'd love to keep talking to you, but you see I got this really crazy boyfriend who's really protective. Like seriously, it's kinda annoying he doesn't let me talk to ANY other guys. He thinks they're all trying to get into my pants or something. It's so stupid!" Lucy complained to Natsu.

Natsu smiled to himself... It looks like he found the right person. How could he make sure he ran into Dan? Oh yeah! A tour. A tour around the school would be good! That way he'd go everywhere so he'd most definitely have to run into him somewhere. That and he couldn't find the cafeteria during school. Boy was he hungry. All those meals he missed out on... 1 meal. Yup one meal too much, Natsu thought to himself.

"Oh well I'm not really afraid of him. You see, I'm not very worried about him. I was wondering though, if you could give me a tour of the building. I kinda couldn't find the cafeteria today and so I'm REALLLLLLLLY hungry." Natsu said.

"Sure that'd be fun! Just don't say I didn't warn you if we run into my boyfriend. I'll try to hold him off though, because I think that it'd be at least fun to do talk to another boy. My friends are pretty nice, but I haven't made a new one in a while since Dan started attacking all the boys for going near me. In fact the longest someone has ever talked to me with Dan showing up was about 2 and a half minutes." Lucy said.

"Oh well I'm sure I could beat his record. In fact, I'm gonna talk to you for more then 10!" Natsu said, punching his fist into the air. He now knows why Sting said three minutes. Natsu has to break the world record! Lucy just giggled at his cheerfulness. She almost felt bad, she hoped he wouldn't run into Dan and have to face the consequences. She really wishes Dan wouldn't do that.

The tour began. Natsu and Lucy went down the halls together, stopping on each floor to say which subject each floor centered on. As they were heading to the English floor, Natsu swore he could hear some arguing coming from the hallway thanks to his super dragon senses. When he recognized what it was about, he told Lucy he didn't need to go there. Natsu didn't Lucy's heart to be broken.

"Don't you dare go near my Angel ever again or I'm going to kick the crap outta you!" a raging male voice said.

"A-alright, I-I'm s-sorry D-dan I won't do that again. I th-thought you w-would be a-after that pink haired freak who was talking to Lucy." a voice in fear said. Natsu was pissed. Not only was he called a pink haired freak, but he was also being ratted out for talking to Lucy. Originally he wanted to be caught, but after talking to Lucy for so long, he wanted to keep talking to her for a while longer.

"WHAT?! SOMEONE IS TALKING TO MY LULU?! AND DON'T YOU DARE SPEAK OF ANGEL AND I! I SWEAR IF WORD GETS OUT IT'LL BE THE LAST DAY YOU LIVE!" Dan screamed at the young male.

"U-understood, s-sorry D-dan, I w-won't speak of i-it." the voice answered, even more frightened then before.

As Natsu and Lucy were headed out the door, it had been a total of 30 minutes of talking. That EASILY shattered the record that the last person held. Natsu not only learned how to navigate the school, but he also learned quite a bit about Lucy. He learned that she is the daughter of the richest man in the city, her mother died when she was young, and her father didn't pay attention to her much. He learned that she ran away from home and that when she first came here she had a hard time fitting in. She learned about how Dan was nice to her and became her first friend, and was really the nicest up until a few weeks ago when he seemed to distance himself quite a bit from her. Sure he was with her a lot still, just not nearly as much as before. Natsu knew why, but wasn't about to say it to her face. More importantly however, Natsu learned a lot about her. He learned that she wanted to be a writer. That she didn't have many friends, really only a few besides Dan, and they weren't really close. Natsu learned about how she really liked fairy tales, and dreamed of living one. Natsu learned about her kindness, but also learned that she was feistily mean. Natsu learned almost everything about her. In fact the conversation changed from what was what in the school to what's Lucy's life like. Natsu learned how her favorite color was blue, but that she really also liked pink. He figured that's why she was so infatuated by his hair. She asked several questions about it, and Natsu just ended up saying it was a thingy that was really uncommon, or a "genetic mutation" as Lucy called it.

Lucy was a little confused that Dan didn't show up. Usually he's always there whenever a perverted teenager comes after her, not that Natsu was, but Natsu was a boy, and Dan didn't like boys going near Lucy in general. That wasn't to say Lucy was sad about it, in fact, Lucy was overjoyed. It's been the longest time since Lucy ever had a casual conversation with a guy that wasn't Dan, and honestly, Lucy was starting to lose interest in him. He may have been overprotective, caring, and somewhat handsome, but he wasn't very fun. His overprotectiveness kept Lucy away from perverts, but it did isolate her from a lot of nice people.

When they got outside, Natsu asked Lucy where her home was delighted to hear that it was just next to his, so they could continue to talk. As they were walking down the street, Natsu asked Lucy,

"Hey I kinda wanna test something, can I have your right arm for a second? I promise it's nothing perverted." Natsu asked.

"Sure, okay. I trust you." Lucy said back with a smile.

Natsu grabbed her right arm and put her right wrist against his. Immediately, he noticed a small glow coming from the top of each other's wrists. It was like a golden glow and they both stood their amazed. Lucy was starting to freak out, when Natsu was about to jump for joy. Still holding that position, she asked,

"What does this mean? How come my wrist is glowing like this? And why is yours too? Is it some kind of trick?" Firing questions at her, Natsu wasn't sure which to answer first.

"YOSH! I FOUND HER!" He screamed in joy. Remembering she was there, he added, "Oh Lucy, I've got a lot of explaining to do. Do you want to meet up at school earlier tomorrow? I'll tell you everything then. But promise me you won't tell ANYONE, not even Dan about this. It's super secret stuff." Natsu said. Lucy nodded her head and tried to fake a smile, but she was so shocked she couldn't even begin to fathom the situation.

Suddenly, a voice caught up to them, screaming out,

"HEY PINKY, WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING WITH MY GIRL?" Natsu immediately recognized the voice, it was Dan Straight's.

"Who said you could call me pinky. I only let friends call me that. And you don't seem like a friend of mine." Natsu answered coldly. He continued, "Besides, Lucy can talk to anyone she wants. I'm kinda new here and I bumped into her in the hallway yesterday. She seemed kind of nice so I asked for a tour of the place. She agreed and we went on a tour."

"I don't _remember_ approving your _conversation_ with _my_ Lulu." Dan answered, looking for a fight.

"I don't remember _needing_ your approval to talk to my friend." Natsu answered, just as coldly.

"Please don't fight him Dan, he's a nice guy. He just wanted a tour." Lucy pleaded.

"Well I don't like him getting all close to you. It seems like he's just trying to steal you from me." Dan said.

"That's not what's happening!" Natsu and Lucy said in unison. They looked at each other, shocked that they had said the _exact_ same thing. Dan didn't approve of it though, and screamed back,

"ALRIGHT NOW YOU'VE SERIOUSLY PISSED ME OFF. YOU'RE SO TRYING TO TAKE HER AWAY FROM ME." Dan screamed, and sent a punch towards Natsu. Unfortunately for Dan, Natsu caught his fist with one hand and said,

"Sorry bud, but I'm not going to fight you. It'd make my friend sad to see her boyfriend get hurt." As much as it hurt Natsu to say that, he really didn't want to make Lucy upset. Though he knew Dan was relentless and would fight him either way. Natsu just needed an excuse to start the fight.

"ARE YOU EXPECTING ME NOT TO FIGHT YOU? SERIOUSLY? YOU'RE SO DEAD." Dan replied, charging towards Natsu. Natsu moved to the left to dodge, and Dan turned towards him. This time he was close enough to throw a punch at Natsu to his face, but Natsu ducked. Dan's other fist followed and went towards him in his crouched position. Natsu fell back onto his back and rolled to the right. He stood up again and said,

"I'm serious I don't want to fight. Can't you see your girlfriend is sad right now? She doesn't want us fighting either." Natsu said.

"If you can't handle me, then you shouldn't have talked to my girlfriend in the first place." Dan said while charging at Natsu. Unfortunately for Natsu, he didn't catch on until it was too late. A punch hit him straight in the stomach. Natsu was pissed.

"Oh you've done it now, Dan, I'm sorry Lucy, but I can't forgive him for punching me like that." After hearing that, Lucy took a step to the side, as to be out of the way. She didn't want it to end like this. Natsu was such a nice guy, and would've been a great friend. Lucy took a seat on the bench and tears formed in her eyes. _Stupid Dan! Why can't I make friends with other guys! They're not all trying to hit on me!_ Thoughts like these flooded through her mind as the tears fell.

Meanwhile back with Natsu and Dan, Dan was spouting off some taunting words. Natsu took the opportunity to charge, and he threw a punch against him that would hit him across the face. Dan was getting angry. The nerve of this kid, who would punch HIM, DAN STRAIGHT, son of the second wealthiest person in Magnolia, in the FACE! HIS BEAUTIFUL FACE!

To say Dan was angry was an understatement. Of all of the people who ever fought Dan before, none punched him in the face. They knew if he did then that'd be the end of it. Of course those who fought him didn't know about the sword, or just thought he wouldn't use it. But Dan would, and did use it. On several occasions. Dan charged at Natsu, trying to punch him to distract him. He aimed for the chest, thinking that Natsu would duck again. Wrongamundo, Dan. Natsu jumped. Not like normal height, but seriously high. He jumped abnormally high. Natsu jumped high enough to the point where his feet were level with Dan's head. He came crashing down on Dan's protruding fist. Dan didn't pull back fast enough, stuck in awe of how high Natsu jumped. Seriously, the guy was like a kangaroo on steroids.

As Natsu's body came down on Dan's arm, he attempted to head-butt Natsu with extreme force. Natsu caught onto this and when he was falling, he punched Dan in the face. It stung Natsu's fist, but it must have really hurt Dan because he stepped back a few feet, he wasn't sure he could keep his balance.

"You're quite agile, kid. I'll give you that. You know how to jump pretty high. I've never seen something like it. Unfortunately, you just hit the one guy you don't want to hit in the head _TWICE!_ You're in for a world of hurt kid." Dan said. He knew that someone was with Lucy, so he had brought the sword in case he needed it. He was so thankful he had it. It wasn't a fancy sword, but it was good enough to slice someone. Dan had learned to use the sword in his past and was now an expert at it. He was the best in Magnolia, and no one could compare to him.

As Dan began to pull his sword out, Lucy came back to reality. She saw Dan with a bit of a busted up face, and Natsu, who didn't really look hurt at all. She was thankful Natsu wasn't hurt yet, but she shrieked when Dan pulled the sword out. Seriously? That's lethal! She could see it in his eyes, the hatred and anger, and _desire to kill_. She screamed,

"PLEASE DAN, NO DON'T DO THIS. HE DOESN'T DESERVE TO DIE! HE DIDN'T DO ANYTHING!"

"Lulu you'll thank me later when you realize this guy was just trying to get into your pants." Dan said.

Natsu was a little troubled. He wasn't afraid of dying. No, a puny sword was nothing to him. He could melt it if he wanted to, but he had to be smart about it. He remembered, _people don't like fire in Earth_. Natsu began to look around for some secluded place to hide so he could release his fire on Dan. He didn't want to kill Dan, no, he just wanted to melt his sword. Then he saw an alley! His face lit up! An escape!

Dan took his first step forward, an evil smirk on his face. Sobs from Lucy completely drowned out from his thought, he thought this was for the best. Nobody should be near _his _girlfriend. Any guy posed as a thief to him, someone just trying to steal _his _Lulu.

"Backing away in fear, pinky? I thought you were Mr. Tough Guy." Dan said.

"HEY! I told you that you can't call me that! Only friends can. And no, I'm definitely not scared. I just wanted to tell you a secret, so I was looking for a secluded place where no one could hear us. After all, what's the fun of secrets if everyone knows them?" Natsu said, with a smirk on his face.

"Sure, why not. After all, it'd be harder to hide your body when the blood stains are out on this open road." Dan said, just as confident

Natsu backed into an alley. He kept going back and back taking a step at the same pace as Dan. Suddenly, he felt the hard wall of a building against his back. Then his smile only got brighter.

"Looks like this is the end of the line, Pinky. Wanna share that secret before you go? Any last words?" Dan said, sword ready to slash Natsu.

"HEY LUCY! LISTEN UP! I'M ABOUT TO SHARE A SECRET AND YOU GOTTA PROMISE NOT TO TELL ANYONE ABOUT IT? OK?!" Natsu screamed towards the blonde. She looked up, eyes, puffy and red, and she nodded, while pleading one last time.

"Dan, please no. For me. Don't do this. I don't want him to die. He's so nice. He doesn't deserve this! PLEASE DAN!"

"Sorry Lulu, but I'm doing this and I'm going to do it now. So Pinky, what's your secret. I'm dying to know. Actually you can say it while my sword comes to strike you." Dan said.

"DAN IF YOU KILL HIM I'M GOING TO BREAK UP WITH YOU! DON'T DO IT DAN, FOR ME!" Lucy said, pleading one more time. Unfortunately, her words fell upon deaf ears, as Dan's sword swung up behind his head, ready to come down on Natsu.

"I..." Natsu mumbled, then he said it louder, "I... really...", suddenly flames started to appear at his feet, but Dan didn't notice. His eyes were not focused on Natsu. His sword began to decline towards Natsu. "I... really... like..." Natsu said again, in somewhat of a whisper. The sword was about 3 feet from Natsu's head. The flames continued to spread up his legs, and started to hit his torso. Lucy stood in horror as she watched Natsu get engulfed in flames. She thought he was being burnt by something Dan threw at him, but she didn't realize Natsu wasn't of this world.

"I REALLY LIKE FIRE!" Natsu finally screamed. Dan's sword inches from Natsu's now completely engulfed body came to a sudden halt. Dan looked at Natsu in shock and saw a burning man in front of him, holding his sword in place. Then he turned his attention back to the sword, and saw the metal beginning to melt.

"WHAT'S GOING ON HERE?!" Dan screamed. He wasn't sure if Natsu had lit himself on fire, but he wasn't confused as hell when he saw that sword of his melting into little droplets of metal.

"You know why I REALLY LIKE FIRE, DAN? Because I can CONTROL IT! Well yeah, that and it's fricken delicious you know. Have you ever had fire before. Especially golden flames. They're absolutely delicious. Don't eat the yellow ones though, they taste AWFUL." Natsu said, rambling on about the different colors of fire and their tastes.

By now, Dan's sword split in two. Natsu had melted it halfway down the blade and part of it fell on the ground while the remaining piece was in Dan's hand. Dan screamed in horror, but it was quickly silenced as Natsu hit him on the back of his head. No, he wasn't going to burn Dan. But he was going to hit him hard enough to make him forget his memory for the past few hours. But he knew he had too much of a heart to do that to Lucy. After all, Lucy was one of his new friends, and he didn't want to hurt her. Friends were special to Natsu Dragneel.

Natsu pulled the now unconscious Dan Straight out of the alley and put him on one of the benches near the alley. He took out a phone he got from his room and quickly snapped a picture of him and goofy smile with an unconscious Dan Straight on the bench. He tagged it, "Havin fun with my best-buddy Dan Straight who was totally okay with me talking to Lucy." Sting would easily catch onto the lie though, noticing that Dan's face was all bruised up from fighting Natsu. Then he remembered.

"HEY LUCY!" Natsu said with a smile on his face. Lucy who was now more horrified than anything else looked at him, fear in her eyes.

"Don't worry Lucy, I wouldn't do that to you, you're like my bestest-friend!" Natsu said with a bright smile.

"N-Natsu... how d-did you d-do that? I m-mean that's l-like im-impossible without b-burning yourself." Lucy said.

"Hey Lucy, please stop crying. Don't worry, I knocked Dan out, so he won't be able to come near me. I didn't kill him, but I hit him hard enough so that he won't remember any of this." Natsu said, smiling to Lucy.

"Y-yeah, okay. Hey N-natsu? C-could you c-come to m-my apartment and explain what j-just happened?" Lucy said.

"Alright, okay. I didn't have any plans for the afternoon so sure! Hey and yeah promise you won't ever tell anyone what just happened. Not you friends, not your family, not your anyone." Natsu said.

With that, the two of them, Natsu Dragneel and Lucy Heartfilia headed down Strawberry Street to Lucy's apartment.


	6. Chapter 6: The Secrets are Shared

**Ok, well I'm back. Hopefully this goes up the fourth. Not the fifth but hey, I don't know. Depends on if I proofread or not later on. Someone asked me if this story was based on another anime or something and the answer to that is not intentionally. If there's an anime or something based on it I haven't seen it. But I have heard of stories of one creator becoming two. Likewise, I've also heard of NaLu stories where Natsu and Lucy live in different worlds similar to Earth and Earthland. So I guess without thinking, my brain put those two together and that's how this ended up!**

**I did end up proofreading it so yeah. And yesterday when the new episode came out and Sting reunited with Lector I was so happy. I just love Sting's character and how he looks up to Natsu but at the same time wants to beat him up. It's kinda like Sting is Natsu's younger brother.**

**So Here's Chapter 6, Enjoy!**

* * *

Natsu and Lucy continued their way down the street in silence. About two minutes into the silence, Lucy broke it by asking:

"So are you going to just leave Dan there?"

"Well yeah, he's on a bench, so it looks like he just fell asleep there. Besides, no one's going to mess with him. I've heard all the stories of Dan Straight."

"So you've heard of him, but you weren't around to see it yourself?" Lucy asked.

"Yeah, my buddy Sting told me. He said that the guy was a total lunatic, and as I can tell he really is. Sting told me about the sword and everything, how he never lets anyone talk to you and stuff." Natsu responded.

"Oh I remember Sting, yeah he was probably the closest guy to me besides Dan. And I've only talked to him for about two and a half minutes before Dan showed up. Even though he beat the crap out of Dan he didn't come back the next day. And you knew about the sword? So why'd you come then?" Lucy explained, and then asked.

"Oh it was sort of a dare thing, I guess their 'leader' of sorts wants us to do some shit before I'm a 'member' or some dumb shit. Either way, my dare was to talk to you for three minutes." Natsu said.

"Oh." Lucy said, a little hurt that he only went up to her for a dare. "So that's the only reason you talked to me?"

"Well not entirely. Yes, I wouldn't have talked to you today, though I planned on asking you where the cafeteria was tomorrow. No, that's not the only reason. Originally, I was going to only talk to you for the three minutes, but then I found out you were the Lucy I ran into yesterday, so I decided that I'd forget the three minute rule and talk to you for as long as I could!" Natsu said, ending the sentence cheerfully.

"Well if that's the reason than I'm okay with the dare." Lucy said, ending with a bright smile.

* * *

Natsu and Lucy finally reached the apartment that Lucy lived in. Natsu quickly took note of a window that would look good for sneaking into her house into the future. Suddenly he began to imagine sneaking into her house like he did to that one person long ago. Well it wasn't long ago, just a few when he decided to find that portal. But nonetheless, he'd still be breaking into Lucy's apartment. Without a doubt.

When they stepped inside, Natsu began to sense a strong smell... vanilla. He assumed it was probably because Lucy smelled a lot like vanilla that the rest of her apartment would as well. Especially since it was just her in her apartment. Natsu thought it must be lonely to live like that. Even he had happy back at his home... _his home..._ Natsu remembered that he had been gone for two days... The guild must be freaking out because he's not there or something. Poor Happy probably has no idea where I am right now. But he couldn't return right away, no. Not at all. He was to wait for Lucy. He knew she'd have to come with him so there was no point in going home before she'd agree.

Natsu began to explain things. How he was a dragon slayer and that he used fire dragon slayer magic. He told Lucy about how his foster father Igneel was actually a dragon and that it was him who taught Natsu all of his magic. Then he told Lucy about Fairy Tail. How they were a home to him and took him in when he had nowhere to go. He told her about his search for Igneel, how he'd crossed the country to find Igneel and how he met many new people. Lastly Natsu spoke of Happy, his best friend and Exceed, who he had hatched and raised.

"pfffffft...HAHAHAHA... Ok you expect me to believe all _THAT!? _I mean come on! Dragons don't even exist! People have searched endlessly throughout this world and haven't even found any sign of them being alive and you expect me to believe that one raised you! And a talking CAT! SERIOUSLY!? I'm sorry but if you're going to make up a funny story to explain how you did a fire trick then you did a good.. no GREAT job!" Lucy said in between laughs. When she looked up at Natsu, his facial expression was extremely serious.

"I wasn't kidding. That wasn't some _fire trick._ It's called fire dragon slayer magic. I lit my whole body on fire! You can't do that can you?" Natsu said coldly.

"No I can't, but you could have easily worn some fire proof suit and-"

"No, I couldn't have. I wouldn't be able to wear a fire proof suit over my head, exposing my hair and allowing me to see Dan. It's stupid." Natsu said.

"Ok then Natsu, show me how you did it if you weren't wearing anything to prevent the flames from hurting you." Lucy said.

"Touch my hand." Natsu said.

"Wh-What?" Lucy answered.

"I said, touch my hand. Jeez Lucy it's not that hard."

She reached her hand out to touch Natsu's.

"Am I supposed to feel something different or weird?"

"What does it feel like?"

"A normal hand."

"Ok good, now step back."

"W-what are you doing?"

Instead of answering, Natsu just created a bunch of fire in front of his hands. Then they began to dance up his arms and when they reached his shoulders, they spread in all directions, going across his body, his face, and his other arm. Lucy just stood there in amazement.

"Lucy, grab my hand."

"Are you kidding? That fire's going to burn me!"

"No, because the fire is controlled by my emotions. It hurts those who I am angry with or trying to fight, but those who I care deeply for will not be affected."

Lucy nodded, and began to grab his hand. When she finally got to it, Natsu grabbed it and tugged it closer to him. He said to her, "See, I won't burn you. I'd never hurt a friend. Not on my life." She stood there in amazement, feeling the warmth of Natsu's burning hand. It felt warming and soothing and she didn't want to let go. It was comforting. Then she realized.

"NATSU. YOU'RE ON FIRE IN MY HOUSE AND YOU COULD EASILY BURN IT DOWN. WHAT WERE YOU THINKING YOU I-" Lucy was cut off by the sound of a smoke detector. Immediately Natsu's flames went out and Lucy filled with rage. She had no idea what she was going to tell the fire department when they show up.

In the distance, Natsu could hear the sounds of sirens going off. They were getting louder and louder and it was starting to annoy him. He heard them long before Lucy could. Lucy started to break down. She wasn't sure how to react.

"What am I going to do? Tell them there was a burning guy in my house and he just put himself out? That's not going to get them to go away? NATSU YOU IDIOT WHAT HAVE YOU GOTTEN US INTO!?" Lucy said. Natsu stared at her in silence for a few seconds before saying,

"Oh I know! Let's leave, that way when they show up, they'll see nothing and think the stupid thing was broken!" Natsu said cheerfully. Lucy was surprised.

"Natsu... that's actually a good idea!" Suddenly her tears stopped and she smiled, "Let's go!"

"They won't be here for another 3 minutes based on how far away I can hear them from, so don't rush yourself. Let's just sneak out and walk down the street for twenty minutes and turn back!" Natsu said as he flashed a bright smile and walked to the door, one hand on the doorknob, the other holding Lucy's hand.

They headed out the apartment and when they got outside they began to walk in the opposite direction of the firetrucks, which they could tell the direction of them because of Natsu's hearing. Natsu could tell that Lucy was nervous about what had happened so he squeezed her hand a little tighter, reassuring her that everything was going to be okay.

"Hey Natsu, you're pretty much an idiot. How'd you come up with a plan like that?" Lucy questioned.

"I'M NOT AN IDIOT! And well it's simple, I used to do that in buildings back in my home town and when the smoke detectors would start beeping I knew I had to get out of there. Usually they'd show up and leave and not worry about it, but tell the house owner to replace the smoke detector."

"Oh so that's why you actually came up with a good plan. I thought for a second that you had a brain."

"Awww Lucy, you're so mean." Natsu said. A few minutes of silence ensued until Lucy broke it by asking a question.

"Hey Natsu, about the glowing wri-" Natsu cut her off.

"Shhh! Don't speak of that. When we get back to your apartment we can talk more but until then I don't want to speak of it. Got any other questions?"

"Umm, yeah. You said Dan wouldn't remember any of what happened today."

"Nope, I was taught by my friend Erza how to hit hard enough to cause partial amnesia. So I hit him hard enough so he wouldn't remember anything after the time he was attacking a kid for talking to Angel." Natsu said plainly, not realizing his mistake.

"Angel? What do you mean Angel? He was defending some kid from ANGEL?! Are the rumors true?" Lucy said, tears beginning to form in the corners of her eyes.

"I'm sorry, Lucy. I didn't want to tell you, but earlier when you were giving me a tour of the school, I overheard a conversation that Dan was having with another student thanks to my heightened hearing. He was mad at someone for hitting on 'his Angel'. The kid told Dan that you were hanging out with me. That's why I didn't have you go down that hallway."

"Why should I believe what you said? Huh? Dan wouldn't do that to me! No he'd never!" Lucy was unable to control the tears as they fell.

"Lucy, he came after us when were far enough away from school that he shouldn't have even known. If he wasn't told about us then there'd be no way he could've run up to us knowing I was there. That and he had his sword. He usually stashes it in his locker so he must have been told."

"How'd you know it was in his locker?"

"Sting told me." Damn, Sting told him a lot, Lucy thought to herself.

"But how should I believe you were tipped off by a kid flirting with Angel and confronted by Dan? Couldn't one of his friends have told him?" She told him she'd break up with him if he attacked Natsu with the sword but she didn't want to believe Dan went that far and cheated on her.

"Lucy do you know what time it was when we left school? 5:30. I doubt Dan was hanging around with friends at school. It was mostly empty when we were walking through and even you would've heard if Dan was with a bunch of his friends." Natsu explained.

Lucy realized it was hopeless to believe Dan wasn't cheating on her. In her heart she wanted to doubt it but she knew that there was no way Natsu was lying. It all made so much sense. She was rightfully suspicious. Because Dan actually did that to her. Dan ACTUALLY cheated on her. Why? Was she not good enough for him?

"Natsu am I not good enough for him? Am I not good enough to be loved? He didn't love me if he went for another girl? Is it impossible to love me? It's been so long since someone has loved me. I don't think anyone would ever love me." Lucy said, unable to control the emotions running through her. All her life she wanted to be loved, but no one was going to make it happen for her. She began to feel like she wasn't worthy of love from someone else.

"No Lucy, I'm surprised that the whole world doesn't love you yet. You're such an amazing person that anyone would be lucky just to love you." Natsu said, wrapping his arms around her, and pulling her in for a hug.

She accepted his hug. She didn't feel like fighting it, because after all she wanted and needed comfort. She felt abandoned yet again, just like when her father left her alone in the house after her mother died. She was glad Natsu was there for her. She needed a friend like him. After all, she didn't have anyone besides Dan. And she knew Natsu was nothing like Dan. She felt warmth in Natsu's hug, warmth she'd never felt before. To say it was amazing was an understatement. It made Lucy feel re-energized, filled with passion, it strengthened her. After a few minutes she pulled away and said:

"Hey Natsu, you said Dan forgot all of his memories after he talked to that kid right?"

"Yeah Lucy, why?"

"So he forgot that I told him I was going to break up with him if he used the sword on you?"

"Yeah he shouldn't remember that, why? You're not planning on staying with him are you?"

"A jerk like that? No way in hell! It's just that he won't remember that I broke up with him, will he?"

"Nope, not at all."

"Good, because I just thought of a great way to tell him that I'm breaking up with him. Want to help me?" Lucy cracked an evil smile after asking Natsu.

"Okay sure! Whenever you'd like." Natsu offered any time to spend with her. After all, Lucy was a special friend.

"Well I really don't want Dan coming after me anymore, so can we plan it when we get back to my apartment."

"Speaking of your apartment, it should be good to reenter now!" Natsu said cheerfully.

They made their way back to the apartment, Natsu still holding Lucy's hand in comfort, happy that he got to spend more time with his new friend. When they got to the apartment, the fire department was still there, but they were waiting outside the house ready to leave. They figured they'd wait half an hour to see if the owner would return. When she did, they asked:

"Miss, are you aware that one of your smoke detectors went off, right?"

"Really? When? My place was fine when I left an hour ago for a walk with Natsu." Lucy lied.

"Well miss, something caused your smoke detector to go off, you should probably get it fixed before a real fire starts." The fireman said.

"Okay sir, I will do that. I'm sorry to have wasted your time." Lucy said, smiling before entering her home with Natsu.

"Not a problem, I'm glad you showed up when you did, otherwise I'd have been caught out in the approaching storm."

"S-storm?" Lucy asked.

"Yeah, apparently it's supposed to be a really bad storm tonight. Lots of rain." The man said. "Well anyways I better get going, don't want to get caught in it!" With that, he and the rest of the firemen there left to go back to the station.

Lucy was relieved to hear that there was no thunder and lightning. She closed the door and walked to her room before lying on her bed to think up good ways to get back at Dan. She played various situations of breaking up with Dan in front of everyone or doing it in some fancy ways. One of them even involved her kissing Natsu! She quickly dismissed that one, they were just friends... She still didn't even know what was up with him! She looked over to him and saw him lazily staring out the window. Then she saw some bright white light reflect against him. Natsu's eyes perked up. Then in a few seconds she heard it...

BOOM! The sound of thunder shook the house. She shrieked and jumped under the covers. It was going to be a long, LONG, night.


	7. Chapter 7: Fears and Friends

**Here's to a Chapter 7! Yay 7! Another 7!**

**Seven is a really important number in Fairy Tail. Lots of sevens in Fairy Tail... Lots of em. I don't really have anything in particular to say other than that I still think Sting is really awesome. Like really awesome. Especially when he has his cheery personality that's similar to Natsu's. That's why I'm going to make sure he's an important character in this story. Because Sting is like a Natsu Dragneel with blond hair. Seriously, after Natsu and Lucy, my favorite character in Fairy Tail has to be Sting.**

* * *

Natsu immediately turned his attention to his friend Lucy. She looked so helpless. He couldn't help but feel bad for her as she saw how scared she was. With her eyes just barely above the blankets on her bed, Natsu was able to see all the fear that built up within her. He recognized it immediately, it was thunder and lightning she was afraid of. Thankfully he didn't show his Lightning Flame Dragon mode when she was near him. That probably would have freaked her out and scared her into never wanting to see him again.

Slowly he approached Lucy. She could tell he was slowly coming closer but she did nothing to prevent it from happening. After all, even if she wanted to, she was stuck, unable to move, completely _petrified_. She wanted to hide herself. There she was, looking weak in front of her only friend. But when she thought back a bit, she really looked weak a few times before. In fact, she'd cried in front of him twice in one day. She began to think that Natsu would only see her as a weakling if she kept this up.

When he got to her bed, she tensed up. Here it comes, she thought. She didn't want him to come closer, to see her so weak and vulnerable. She did trust him, but she didn't want him to think that she was emotionally unstable. When he opened his mouth, something completely different from what she'd expect came out of his mouth.

"It's okay, Lucy. I understand, you're afraid of thunder and lightning. Why though?" He gently helped her to sit up so that she'd be sitting next to him and put his right arm around her back that pulled her closer to him and left his hand on her right waist. She leaned her head against his shoulder before she spoke.

"W-when I was y-younger, a-after my m-mother died, I w-would spend lots of t-time alone because m-my dad w-would i-ignore me. When it w-would th-thunder I w-would be r-reminded of h-how lonely I w-was. I h-had n-noone th-there f-for me." It took her almost all of her energy to say that, which wasn't much after the long day she'd been through.

"Well I'm here Lucy! Why would you be afraid of being alone when you got me right here? I won't leave! Promise!" Natsu said, a little louder than he probably should have. At first she shook after hearing how loud he was but she was comforted when she heard the words he spoke.

"Th-thanks, Natsu. I pr-probably look like a w-weak girl who cries over about just anything." Lucy said, feeling sad that her friend probably thought this way of her.

"No way, Lucy! You got fighting spirit, it's really scary! You're just having one of those days! The ones that uh... don't go your way... as the that stripper would say. Damn stripper... he's probably talking trash about me right now. I bet he's making fun of me!" Natsu said, completely changing topics.

"YOU'RE FRIENDS WITH A STRIPPER?!" Lucy asked, no screamed, at Natsu.

"Yeah. That frosty-ass can't learn to keep his clothes on. Every time we go on a mission, he's always losing them. He doesn't even know when he does either. His real name is Gray, but I usually call him snow cone or popsicle or ice freak or frosty ass or or or..." Natsu began thinking of more nicknames he had for the ice mage until Lucy cut off his train of thought.

"Why do all of his nicknames involve cold things?"

"Well his magic is Ice-Make, so he can make just about anything that doesn't move from imagination. He's got another friend or rival or something that makes moving stuff but not the still things like snow cone." Natsu explained.

"And what'd you say about missions? Are they like jobs?"

"Yeah, I guess you could say that. We accept requests and do them for money. I usually go with Happy, stripper, and Erza."

"Erza's the really scary lady you keep telling me about right?"

"Yeah, she's super powerful and if you make her angry she will punish you. She always stops stripper and me from fighting too which is annoying. But one day, I'm going to beat her! I SWEAR TO IT! Yeah and don't touch her cake either, she flips if you do." Natsu said.

"Wow, so you've got quite an interesting group of friends, I'd love to meet them." Lucy daydreamed about meeting Natsu's friends, wondering how they'd react to a person who didn't use "magic".

"Oh yeah they're all really nice, like family. Actually now that I think about it, I didn't say bye before leaving Earthland."

"Did they know you were coming here?"

"Nope."

"So they're probably worried that you're lost or something? What if they thought you died? Did you have a girlfriend? I bet she'd miss you."

"No, I don't have a girlfriend, and no don't worry, they think I'm off on some really long mission that's far away. Actually I was supposed to leave for it the day I ended up coming here, so they won't suspect a thing."

"What about the mission?"

"Ah, it'll be okay. The client will probably just hire someone else. After all he didn't give us much of a way to speak with him letting us know we accepted the job. All there was was an address for a town on the other side of the country."

"So you're going to stay?" Lucy asked, cheerfully, hoping that he'd say yes.

"Of course, I'm not going anywhere for a while!" Natsu said.

"Awesome!" Lucy responded before hugging Natsu.

"So tell me Natsu, what's life like in Earthland..." Lucy asked.

For a while, Natsu described his life in Earthland. Lucy knew the general story of how he was orphaned and found Igneel before ending up at Fairy Tail, but she wanted to know what Natsu's life was like. She had never known someone with magical capabilities and it was all a shock for her, after all, she probably only knew a handful of people personally. As Natsu explained his stories of his foster father teaching him his magic, she began to wonder what it was like to possess magic. Natsu would tell her stories of how he'd beat up tons of people with his fire and how they stood no chance against him. That, she could believe. Eventually, Natsu got to a part about his guild-mate, Laxus Dreyar.

"So about a year ago, Laxus tried to take over Fairy Tail. Luckily, we managed to stop him, but it still didn't excuse the damage he caused to our town and the guild. So the master expelled him. Though he ended up returning a short time later, thanks to a friend of mine, Gildarts Clive. He's like the strongest mage in the guild, and he and I are really close. I swear I'm going to beat him one day! Anyways, with Gildarts and me pleading to Gramps, he finally gave in and let Laxus back into the guild. As a reward, Laxus gave me the ability to use Lightning Dragon Slayer magic along with my Fire Dragon Slayer magic."

"L-lightning Dragon Slayer Magic?" Lucy asked, remembering her fears.

"Oh yeah, forgot about that. Would you like me to show you?" Natsu said.

Lucy glanced over at her clock and read the time, _11:30pm?_ Wow! She's been talking to Natsu for three hours!

"You remember I'm afraid of lightning right?"

"Yeah, but you're not afraid of me, right? I'd never hurt you! I promised! So _my _lightning shouldn't scare you at all!" Natsu said with a big grin.

Lucy was convinced when Natsu said it was _his_ lightning and that he promised not to hurt her. After all, among the many things she learned about Natsu, the most important was that he'd protect his friends with everything he's got.

"Let's go back to that alley we were at earlier, since it's close to your house." Natsu said.

"How about you just show me in the bathroom, there are no smoke detectors in that room."

"Ok then!" Natsu walked to the bathroom and Lucy followed him in. Then, Natsu began to cover his body in flames.

"I thought you were supposed to show me your lightning dragon slayer magic" Lucy asked.

"Well I can't use it without my fire. It's more of a boost to my fire than anything. I can't use lightning on its own, I have to have the fire." Soon enough, he was completely covered in flames. And then it happened, the sound of electricity filled the room. Natsu's fire was cloaked with lightning.

"Woah that's... so awesome! How come you didn't use this against Dan?"

"Well I don't have unlimited magic power, and having the lightning just makes me drain it faster. Plus Dan was waaaay to weak for me to need to use my lightning."

"Can I feel it? Or is it dangerous?"

"It's not dangerous, just not as good feeling as the fire."

Lucy put her and against Natsu's arm and couldn't help but agree. Surely, Natsu's lightning didn't feel as good as his fire. It was fuzzy feeling, not calm and soothing like the fire.

"Yeah I can't help but agree, I like when it's just the fire more. But when you have both it's more powerful, so I guess that's why you use it."

Natsu extinguished his flames and walked back to Lucy's room. Then she remembered, they had school tomorrow.

"Hey Natsu? You know we have school tomorrow, right?"

"Yeah why?" Natsu answered.

"You know it's the middle of the night, right?"

"Yeah, though I'm not so upset, why?"

"Shouldn't you go to sleep soon?"

"Well I was having a lot of fun spending time with you that I forgot about that. But I guess so. I'll see you tomorrow." Natsu said as he headed for the door.

"Yeah, I guess so. See you tomorrow!"

As Natsu opened the door, Lucy saw that was still raining. She was glad there was no more thunder but she didn't think she'd be able to handle it if the thunder came back and Natsu wasn't here. And she definitely wanted to get some sleep.

"Actually, Natsu you should probably stay, it's really wet outside and I don't want you to ruin your clothes."

"Well it's okay, I can use my flames to dry myself off."

"But if you get a cold outside I don't think I'd be able to forgive myself."

"Fine, I'll stay, since it'd make you sad if I didn't." That was partially the truth. Yeah, Natsu wanted to stay to make Lucy happy, but at the same time Natsu would have done anything to stay. He loves her house, because it meant more time with his best friend Lucy. That and he absolutely loved the smell... vanilla, his new favorite smell.

"Here you can take the bed, I can sleep on the couch." Lucy said.

"No way! You can have the bed." Natsu said.

"Well are you going to sleep on the couch then?"

"I'll figure something out Lucy."

With that the two got ready for bed. Lucy was already in bed while Natsu was brushing his teeth with one of the spare toothbrushes Lucy had in case she went traveling. When he finished he crawled into bed next to Lucy.

"Natsu, what do you think you're doing?"

"Going to sleep, what does it look like?"

"I thought you said I could have the bed though."

"I did say that."

"So why are you in _my _bed?"

"Well because it's comfortable and smells a lot like you." Lucy blushed at Natsu's second reason for staying in her bed. Does she really smell good? She never noticed it. But still, he was in her bed and she only knew him for a day, so she had to kick him out.

"Get out! Natsu get out!"

"But Lucy! It's so comfortable and smells soooooooo good!"

Just then thunder once again shook the house and Lucy's entire body jumped. She completely forgot her argument with Natsu and was filled with fear. Natsu ended up putting his arms around Lucy's waist and falling asleep. Lucky for him, Lucy was totally consumed by fear. It was comforting to know he was here, but at the same time, she was going to kill him in the morning. For now though, she's going to enjoy his company. It's not like he was trying to pull anything perverted on her.

"Night Lucy." Natsu said in his sleep.

"Night Natsu."

With that, Lucy fell into a calm and relaxing sleep.


	8. Chapter 8: Reactions and Rematches

**Sorry for the long break between updates. I've been trying to get stuff out every other day but I had two days in between seven and eight. However, I've been rather busy, though no fear, this shall continue without slowing progress. I really like to write these chapters and I hope you enjoy them too! Until next Author's Note, enjoy!**

**Here's Chapter 8!**

* * *

7:30 A.M. Lucy's house was silent, until an extremely annoying alarm clock decided to go off. With that, Natsu's eyes shot open and he growled, remembering how annoying the stupid thing was in his house and he didn't think that anyone else could have something so annoying. At Natsu's growl, Lucy started to giggle, completely forgetting the fact that Natsu was sleeping right next to her without her permission. She was comfortable, therefore, she was happy.

"I guess they don't have those in Earthland, do they?" Lucy asked.

"Nope, since we can take jobs whenever, we wake up whenever and can do whatever we want. It's actually pretty sweet."

"Wow, sounds great. I'd do anything to not have to hear that stupid thing go off again and again."

"Yeah, I'm not really used to them. But thanks for letting me sleep in your bed Lucy." Natsu ended with a smile.

3...2...1...

"NATSU DRAGNEEL WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING? YOU CAN'T JUST SLEEP IN SOMEONE ELSE'S BED, ESPECIALLY WHEN THAT PERSON IS IN THE BED AND IS A GIRL."

"Woah jeez Lucy, no need to yell. I heard enough loud noises from that damn alarm clock."

"ARE YOU EVEN LISTENING? YOU CAN'T SLEEP IN MY BED WHEN I'M IN IT."

"So I can sleep in it when you're not in it?"

"THAT'S NOT THE POINT!" With that, Lucy shoved Natsu off the bed, since he was lying on the side of the bed that wasn't facing the wall.

"Worth it." Natsu mumbled.

"What was that?" Lucy asked.

"I said it was worth it. Your bed is so comfortable, and it smells so good too! I REALLY like sleeping in your bed."

"Well it's not about to become a regular thing. Get ready for school, it starts in an hour."

"I'm already wearing my uniform so what would I need to do besides like brush my teeth and eat breakfast."

"Wouldn't you need to shower or something? I mean when was the last time you showered?"

"Umm... I think the night before I came here. I was going on a long mission so I was going to clean myself before going."

"So that was what? Three days ago? Are you serious? You're going to smell really bad you know. Quickly take a shower because I need to take one as well."

"But I don't want to."

"Natsu if you have any dreams of ever sleeping in my bed again then you better take a shower!" Lucy wasn't going to let him sleep in her bed ever again, but that was a good enough of a motivator for him. He ran right into the bathroom and took a shower in under ten minutes. When he got out, Lucy could tell he smelled a LOT better than before.

"Alright I'm clean. I'm just gonna wait here, tell me when you're ready to go."

"Okay Natsu, I'll be out soon enough."

When Lucy exited the bathroom it was 8:10, and she saw Natsu sitting in the same spot lighting his hand on fire and then putting it out. He did this several times and still found it exciting.

"Having fun?"

"Yeah, lots of fun Lucy."

"Alright, lets go, class starts in twenty minutes."

"But I'm hungry Lucy!"

"Then grab a muffin or something, I don't know, but the school is at least ten minutes by walking so hurry up!"

Natsu walked into the kitchen and came back a minute or two later empty handed.

"Weren't you going to eat a muffin, Natsu?"

"Already did."

"Okay then let's go. It's 8:15 and school starts at 8:30"

The two of them walked out of her apartment and closed the door. They began to walk down the street to school when they passed by a familiar bench. It was the bench that Natsu left Dan on. It was empty. That could either mean he woke up and left or he was taken away by someone. Lucy didn't really care for either possible outcome. She wouldn't have cared if Dan was dead.

About five minutes after passing the bench, the two arrived at school slightly earlier than expected. It was only 8:22 when they arrived and it turned out their classrooms were right next to each other so they agreed to meet up after first to walk to second together. After they went their separate ways, Natsu walked into English class, his first period. He hoped Sting got the joke, so that the Minerva person he was talking about would be okay with him and Sting hanging out. From Sting's description, she sounded like another Erza, and one Erza was definitely enough for her.

"Yo Natsu, I see you did a number on Dan yesterday. Not only did you complete the bet but you beat the shit outta Dan. Good job man!" Sting said cheerfully

"Dan didn't put up much of a fight. Even when he had the sword out he couldn't do much at all." Natsu responded.

"He pulled the sword out on you and you managed to still win? Wow, you're awesome!"

"Yeah I just knocked him out, that's all. He didn't really do much at all. Just a bang on the back of the head and he was out."

"I heard you knocked him out so hard that he completely forgot about it. He came into school today with a bunch of bruises on his face and had no idea how he got them. We started laughing at him and telling him that it was you and he sounded so pissed off."

"I got a friend who taught how to knock people out right just enough to cause partial amnesia. It's a pretty neat trick, knocks them out so that they don't remember the last hour or so before they were hit." Natsu explained. Erza and Natsu didn't have a friends relationship. More like little brother and big sister.

"You got to show me sometime dude, that sounds awesome."

"Sure thing."

"Yo he also said he couldn't find his sword, what'd you do with it? I woulda kept it as a souvenir." Sting asked. Oh shit, Natsu thought. Well he couldn't say he melted it. He and Sting were friends of course, but there was no way he would have believed it.

"Threw it in the river next to the road. The thing sunk pretty fast."

"Maybe we should tell Dan where it is and see if he goes to search for it." Sting joked.

"He'd probably hire like fifteen professional divers to find that thing before buying a new one." Natsu added.

"Hey you wanna meet up after school? The rest of the guys want to congratulate you for beating the shit out of Dan." Sting asked.

"I'll tell you in fifth. Dan might want a rematch or something." Natsu said.

"Alright, we should probably pay attention now. Class started fifteen minutes ago." Sting said.

"Those were the best fifteen minutes of this class I'll ever have." Natsu mumbled under his breath. Sting heard him and laughed. He couldn't help but agree.

* * *

After first was over, Natsu met up with Lucy in the hallway. Unbeknownst to him, some were staring at Natsu with compassionate eyes. They felt bad because they thought he'd have to face the wrath of Dan. No one else besides Natsu and Lucy knew that Lucy broke up with Dan. A few kids knew from Sting that Natsu beat Dan up, but besides them, everyone couldn't believe what they were seeing. However one pair of eyes were staring him down with anger. The owner of those eyes, Dan Straight, walked up to Natsu.

"Hey pinky, what do you think you're doing talking to _my _Lucy." Dan said with anger in every word he spoke.

"_Your Lucy?_ I'm not anyone's Dan. Though I doubt you'd care, because you already have _your_ Angel." Lucy said back. She didn't have time to think of a good way to officially break up with Dan, but since there were already lots of people staring, she might as well do it now.

Immediately Dan froze. He then looked at Natsu. Maybe by blaming him he could hide the fact he was with Angel a lot.

"So, you're the one who told her I was with Angel?" Dan said to Natsu.

"Yeah, I kind of am. Though I didn't mean to, it's just she doesn't belong with a heartless bastard like you."

"How dare you! Do you even know who I am?"

"Yeah, you're the guy I kicked the shit out of yesterday, in front of your ex-girlfriend."

Nobody could believe what they heard. A nobody, pink-haired freak, who insisted it was salmon, just started trash talking _the _Dan Straight. Oh poor Natsu, they thought.

"So you're the one filling my girlfriend's head with lies, huh?" Dan asked again, looking almost as pissed as he sounded.

"Lies? You're the only lying to your _EX_-girlfriend. I heard you yesterday yelling at that kid for talking to _YOUR_ Angel. Don't tell me that I'm lying because you know I'm not. And if you're going to lie to your _EX-_girlfriend's face, I suppose you'd have a lie as to how you found out about how I was talking to her yesterday. I heard that kid say that someone was talking Lucy and you immediately grabbed your sword and began to chase us down. How else would you have known if I was talking to her?" Natsu emphasized the ex in ex-girlfriend. No way was she letting Dan still call her his girlfriend.

Dan froze up. He was caught in the act. Natsu heard everything from that conversation yesterday. There was no way he was getting out of it. But Natsu didn't stop there.

"And if you REALLY loved Lucy, you wouldn't have to protect her as much as you do. It's not right to prevent her from talking to _HALF_ the human race you know. She has feelings too. And you can ignore them all you want because she's not going to be your girlfriend any longer!" Natsu ended his speech there.

"And who are you to tell me what I can and cannot do?" Dan asked again.

"I'm not letting a heartless bastard like you get your hands on her again." Natsu said defensively.

"And what are you going to do about it? Fight me?" Dan was beyond pissed. Some pink haired stranger was telling him that his girlfriend (really ex-girlfriend) was no longer with her.

"If that's what it takes, I'll do it." Natsu answered.

"Alright fine, front of the school, after 7th." (7th is the last class in this school).

"Sure thing Dan, would you like to bring the crowd? It'd be nice for them to watch me kick your ass." Natsu said, egging Dan on.

Dan turned around and faced the crowd saying, "FRONT OF SCHOOL, AFTER 7TH, I'M GOING TO FIGHT THIS PINK HAIRED FREAK."

"Hey Dan, wanna make a bet?" Natsu asked. Dan turned around.

"And what would that bet be?" He answered Natsu's question with a question.

"If I win, you don't see Lucy ever again. If you win, I don't see Lucy ever again." Natsu said, full of confidence.

"Deal. Better say your final goodbyes to Lucy." Dan said as he turned and walked away.

"Good luck, _NATSU_" Lucy said, emphasizing the Natsu part loud enough that Dan could hear it. She wasn't afraid that Natsu was going to lose. No, Natsu was most definitely going to win again. Now that Dan didn't have the sword, Natsu could easily destroy Dan.

Then the two remembered, it was time to get to class.

As they walked into their history class, they were told they were going to get a group project, but that they could pick their partner. Natsu and Lucy obviously paired up for this one. They were the only friends each other had in the class. There was no way Lucy was going to pair up with Dan, who happened to be in the opposite corner of the room.

When Dan saw those two pair up, he was beyond furious. He watched as the person he thought was his talk casually to the pink haired guy. No way in hell was he going to lose that fight. Even if it meant Lucy was going to have to do the project all by herself, he was most definitely going to win. Dan pulled out his phone and called one of the servants of his house to get him a new sword. He was whispering so quietly that no one could hear him.

No one, that is, except Natsu Dragneel, who had the hearing of a dragon. He was elated to work on the project with Lucy, but when he heard that Dan was getting a new sword, he needed to do something. He would ask Lucy during lunch.

* * *

Nothing interesting happened during third. Natsu talked a bit with Rogue but didn't do much else. During fourth, when they were both in the class, Natsu broke the news to Sting.

"So Dan's challenging me to a fight after school today in the front entrance." Natsu said casually.

"Oh, I'm definitely going to go then! I can't wait to watch you put Dan in his place _again._" Sting said.

"With that bet added, you're certainly doing Lucy a favor." Rogue said.

"What bet?" Sting asked.

"Oh did you hear? Natsu made a bet with Dan since Lucy just broke up with him. The loser isn't allowed to talk to Lucy for the rest of their lives." Rogue said.

"Wow, you're certainly doing a favor for her. You two friends or something now?" Sting asked.

"Well yeah, we're really close friends now. We got a group project together, and she chose me to be her partner instead of Dan, which is totally awesome." Natsu said, smiling.

"That's nice. Well I can tell you one thing, she definitely owes you one for keeping her away from Dan. Dan is a man of his word after all, and it's pretty good he forgot about what happened yesterday so he doesn't know how strong you are."

* * *

Natsu had lunch after fourth. He looked around and found Lucy sitting alone, while trying to fend off an annoying Dan.

"I told you I'm not going to eat with my _EX_-boyfriend." Lucy said. She too, was emphasizing the ex part.

"Listen darling, we can get back together. You know I love you, right?" Dan said.

"Not as much as you love Angel. And don't call me darling, Dan. I don't want anything to do with you." Lucy said.

Dan realized it wasn't just Natsu who told him that he was no longer dating Lucy and he was not going to take it.

"You take that back, Lucy." Dan said.

"Make me!" Lucy responded.

Before Dan could do anything, Lucy's best friend and pink-haired protector showed up.

"You won't do anything to her. She doesn't want anything to do with you and if you can't understand that now, I'll have to beat it out of you after school today." Natsu said.

"Thanks Natsu." Lucy said with a smile.

That smile killed Dan on the inside. He was jealous because that smile wasn't for him. No, it was for Natsu. He was in no position to fight, however. He didn't want to get detention and miss the real fight. Besides there'd be a crowd for him to show his strength to when he beats Natsu up. Dan went away.

"Ok so I heard Dan was going to get a new sword today." Natsu said.

"What are you going to do, you can't use fire." Lucy said.

"Umm... does anyone in this world use fire in anyway possible, like at all?" Natsu asked.

"Some people drink alcohol, light it on fire in their mouths and breathe out. It's really complex. Nobody around here can do it though. Besides we're underage for drinking. You gotta be 21." Lucy answered.

"Oh well, do they have root beer in this school?" Natsu asked.

"Yeah, only in bottles though." Lucy answered.

"Are they brown bottles?" Natsu asked.

"Yeah, they do look a lot like beer bottles too. Don't tell me you're planning on..." Lucy trailed off, thinking Natsu was going to try the alcohol trick.

"No way, I'm not going to drink. Though, I do have an idea as to how I'm going to win." Natsu said.

"What's your brilliant idea?" Lucy said, nervous that it was really stupid.

"Duh, I'm gonna get a root beer bottle, fill it with apple juice because it looks a lot like beer, and then put the cap back on. That way if Dan pulls his sword out, I can pretend like I'm drinking alcohol and breathe fire at him!" Natsu said cheerfully. Lucy was shocked. He really does know how to fight. But there was a major problem with that.

"You know you're underage right?" Lucy asked.

"Yeah but there aren't going to be teachers there, and no one's gonna rat me out." Natsu said.

"Dan might, you know he's going to hate you if you burn him to a crisp." Lucy said.

"I think he already hates me. But I'll just give the teachers the bottle, and tell them it's apple juice, jeez shouldn't be hard, right?"

"Yeah but then if they question how you summoned the fire..."

"Yeah that's right... Probably should think of something else..."

A minute passed. Then Natsu perked up.

"OH I KNOW!" Natsu shouted cheerfully.

"What do you know?" Lucy asked playfully. Even if he wasn't smart, she found it amusing to talk to him.

"Matches will work right? I can hold a pack of matches and pretend that I used them to light Dan on fire. Works like a charm right?" Natsu said.

"As long as you don't eat them..." Lucy knew about his craving for fire. He loved fire, a lot.

"I'll try not to." Natsu said, as if he couldn't believe what he was saying. Somehow, Lucy didn't seem convinced by Natsu's answer.

"And if you kill Dan you're going to be stuck in prison." Lucy deadpanned.

"I can easily escape but... I'm only going to burn his arm enough to the point he drops the sword. He shouldn't be hurt too bad." Natsu said, relieving Lucy. He wasn't a total idiot.

"Alright, but be careful Natsu. You know I want you to win, but if you go overboard I don't want you to get arrested or anything." Lucy said.

"I'm not going to go overboard. I only made the bet to keep Dan away from you, not to hurt him or anything." Natsu said.

"You...did it for me?" Lucy asked, surprised.

"Of course, Lucy! What wouldn't I do for you?" Natsu said cheerfully. At that, Lucy blushed so much that she looked down to hide it.

Lunch ended just after that, and Natsu had a strong feeling he was going to win.


	9. Chapter 9: A Fight For Whom?

**Sorry about the long gap between chapters... Seriously I really tried to get something out as soon as possible. However, I was stuck at my brother's hockey tournament for the weekend without a computer to type this up with. But I'm back now, and hopefully for good! Thanks again for reading up until this point and enjoy the chapter!**

* * *

It's late afternoon. Natsu Dragneel is ready. He isn't going to lose, no, he couldn't and wouldn't lose. Defeat is like motion sickness to Natsu, unbearable. As he walked through the empty hallway towards the front entrance of school, he began to think about how he got into this mess...

_"__I'm soo sorry! I wasn't looking where I was going and I accidentally ran into you!"_ He remembers the concerned look she gave him when his eyes met hers. Yes... he remembers it fondly. He blushed very lightly at the thought.

_"Well she's perfectly normal. Actually she's really nice." _Natsu remembers Sting telling him how nice she was. Wow, Sting was right. Lucy was really nice to Natsu, considering he beat the shit out of her boyfriend... Or once boyfriend...

_"__Dan, please no. For me. Don't do this. I don't want him to die. He's so nice." _... _"He's so nice." _He began to chuckle a bit when he remembered Lucy thinking about him dying. No way he was going down so easily. Then he remembered the last part. Wow, a compliment from her. Natsu didn't really ever receive compliments about being nice, especially not from strangers who had their boyfriends beaten up.

Natsu began to remember more of the things that happened to him during the previous few days...

When Lucy told him about her fear of lightning...

When they had to leave her house because of the fire department...

When they came to school and he saw the shocked looks people were giving him...

When Dan challenged Natsu... challenged. **Natsu?** Nobody challenges Natsu and wins!

When he made the bet... _the bet..._

Why did he make that bet? Was he trying to rub it in Dan's face when Dan would never be able to talk to Lucy again? Or was it that he wanted to keep Lucy safe? Lucy hated Dan, so it was only fair. Or was it both? He concluded that it was probably both. But why? He hadn't done something like that for anyone ever. _So why now? What made him want to make the bet?_

(A.N. It was an early stage of love, you idiot.)

Natsu regained his senses at the end of the hallway when his train of thought was derailed by some doors. He looked out the windows on the doors. People. _Lots_ of people. He didn't think fighting Dan would be _THAT_ big of a deal. Oh well, he figured, might as well show everyone what it means to challenge the great Natsu Dragneel.

* * *

He stepped outside. He saw the crowd split as he walked by, people looking at him in awe, some thinking he was digging his own grave.

"Did he even know who he was up against? That's the DAN STRAIGHT! There's no way he'd win, and even if he won he'd be totally screwed by their huge amounts of money the family has! They can do anything!" Reactions like these came from the people who were against him in the form of whispers. Natsu heard these whispers. They weren't hurting Natsu, no, they were encouraging him. Encouraging him to show them the fury of Natsu Dragneel, son of Igneel.

Natsu also heard whispers of support, coming from those who were mostly friends of Sting. Speaking of Sting, he was standing in the middle of the crowd next to Dan uttering taunting words to heir of the Straight fortune.

"You better be ready, Dan. Soon as Pinky comes out you're gonna be in a world of hurt just like yesterday!"

"As if! He can't do shit to me. Just like you, Sting."

"Oh yeah? How come you woke up with bruises the morning after we fought. Why'd you need a weapon? Too scared to get your shit rocked by me again, Dan?"

"No way in hell, Sting. You just got lucky, that's all."

"Just like Pinky got lucky yesterday when he kicked the shit out of you."

"He knocked me out! No way I consider that a fair fight. I'm not going to lose to him, Sting. I assure you."

"I heard he spent the entire last night with Lucy. Even slept at her apartment last night." Luckily for Dan, Sting didn't know Natsu and Lucy slept in the same bed that night.

...

That did it. Dan was so furious, and his newfound rage was greeted with a pink-haired teenager who was walking towards him casually but giving him a vicious stare. He had both of his hands in his pockets and his body posture tended to make him look uninterested if you excluded the facial expression.

"YOU'RE ABOUT TO DIE, PINKY. IN FRONT OF EVERYONE." Dan screamed. No way was he keeping his cool when Lucy spent the night with that pink-haired freak.

Natsu just smirked, shrugged his shoulders and said, "If it's a challenge you want, it's a challenge you've got, Dan Straight."

Dan couldn't believe how calm Natsu was. No one who ever approached Dan was this calm, not even the people he paid to be his friends. He probably should calm down so he doesn't look like a total freak.

"I see you've got quite a bit of confidence there, Pinky." Dan said, returning the smirk.

"I thought I told you that you can't call me Pinky. That's only for friends." Natsu answered.

"I thought I told you to stay away from _my_ Lucy." Dan said.

"_Your_ Lucy? I don't think she's _yours_ after you cheated on _her_ with Angel." Natsu responded coolly.

"She will be mine. I assure you. I won't give up until she is. Even if you fill her head with lies." Dan defended, not willing to admit he cheated on her.

"But it wasn't a lie! You told me yourself! And I told you where Lucy was!" The young kid who Dan threatened yesterday said shakily from the crowd.

"WHAT WAS THAT?" Dan roared in the direction of the kid.

"Woah, Dan calm down. Your fight is with me, not him." Natsu said. Better not to get anyone else involved, he thought.

"I'll deal with you _later_." Dan said pointing to the kid. The young boy gulped.

"No you won't. You're not going near him." Natsu responded. Most peoples' jaws dropped at hearing Natsu command Dan. The young boy smiled up at Natsu.

"What. did. you. just. say?" Dan said, pausing in between each word.

"I told you that you're not going to lay a finger on him."

"You can't tell me what to do." Dan chided.

"Watch me."

Sting was getting pretty bored of the conversation and wanted to get on with the fight. He stood between them and acted as the referee.

"Alright, we're not here for bickering. We're here for a _FIGHT!_" Sting screamed enthusiastically. That got the crowd's attention. "We're here because we want to see Pinky and Shit-bag fight! AM I RIGHT?" The crowded responded with lots of cheering. "Okay, you two are going to fight until either one of you drops. You have as much time as you want but make this quick 'cuz I got a date and I don't want to be late!" Sting cheered. "Take your stances, Pinky and Shit-bag, you have thirty seconds until you begin." The timer started... _30..._

"What did you just call me?" Dan asked, enraged. _29, 28, 27..._

Sting paused, not answering Dan. At last, he spoke:

"You heard me, Dan." Sting said confidently. _19, 18, 17..._

"I don't like it when people talk to me like that." Dan answered. _16, 15, 14..._

"And I don't like it when you talk to me." Sting answered with a smirk. _13, 12, 11..._

Silence. For a few seconds, silence among everyone in the crowd, as well as Dan and Sting.

"I'm going to beat you up after I'm finished with Pinky." Dan said. _6, 5, 4..._

"You can't expect to beat me after Pinky shoves your face into the pavement." Sting answered with a smirk. _3, 2, 1..._

30 seconds had passed. No more, no less. After exactly 30 seconds, only one sound was heard. Fist-to-the-face. Dan didn't even see it coming.

Natsu's fist collided with Dan's cheek so hard that it sent Dan back a couple of steps. Dan lost his balance but quickly regained it.

"That's a cheap shot! The fight didn't even start yet!" Dan screamed, while grabbing his cheek in pain.

"Not at all. We were both in our positions and 30 seconds had passed. That marks the beginning of the fight. Isn't that right Sting?" Natsu said with a smirk.

"Pinky's telling the truth, shit-bag." Sting said, turning to Dan.

"I TOLD YOU TO STOP CALLING ME THAT." Dan screamed about to punch Sting when a fist out of nowhere caught his.

"I'm your opponent, Dan. Not Sting. Me, Natsu Dragneel." Natsu said with a serious face. Then he twisted Dan's fist so that Dan would jump back in pain.

Dan listened to Natsu and shut out the world around him. It was just him and Natsu, fighting to what he thought was death, but was actually just a brawl outside of school. Regaining his footing, he ran to punch Natsu, but Natsu once again caught his fist. Upset with this, Dan swung his leg around, kicking Natsu's left leg hard. Natsu jumped back and glanced at the bruise to see how serious it was. As he glanced back up a fist was coming fast towards him. With no time to move, it collided with his face, making him shout in pain. Dan smiled at this, and for a moment was so hyped up in his accomplishments that he turned to face the crowd that had once again captured his attention.

Natsu took advantage of this and hit Dan hard on the back of the head. "If you're not going to pay attention to me, I'm going to hurt you so that you will!" Natsu screamed as he punched Dan across his right cheek while he was turning around. Dan didn't hesitate to throw another punch at Natsu, and quickly balled his left hand into a fist that punched Natsu in the stomach. It was a perfect hit. Natsu jumped back as pain spread across his body. He didn't realize Dan had gotten the upper hand on him. Natsu decided it was time to end the games. It was serious mode.

Natsu adjusted his posture so that he was standing straight up. Dan was facing him with a murderous glint in his eyes. Natsu wasn't afraid and went to punch Dan in the chest with his right hand when Dan lifted his right arm to block it. Natsu predicted that Dan would do that and brought his left arm around to punch Dan across his right cheek, for the third time. Dan's left arm reeled back, ready to come down and punch Natsu, but Natsu caught the punch as it came down. With Dan's left fist in Natsu's right hand, Natsu pulled Dan towards him by the arm while Natsu's knee rose to hit Dan in the stomach. Natsu let go of Dan's arm as Natsu's knee came into contact with Dan's stomach. As a result, the knee to Dan's stomach sent him back a couple of feet where he lied on the ground.

Natsu walked up to the motionless Dan and scowled. He said, "If that's all you've got you might as well use your dad's fortune to your advantage."

Dan's eyes shot open and he smiled, "I think I'll do just that."

Before he could react, Dan had already grabbed a sword, thrown to him by a member of the crowd who was hiding it in hopes that Dan wouldn't need it to win. When Dan grabbed the sword he held it in both hands and while still lying on the ground he swung his sword parallel to the ground in a semi-circle. It almost collided with Natsu's feet until Natsu jumped in the air. Natsu, being extremely acrobatic, jumped a stunning seven feet in the air before gravity began to take its effect. As Natsu was falling, Dan stood up and got ready to swing his sword like a baseball bat. As his sword was about to come forward, he felt resistance build up and saw a foot colliding with the blade. Able to push it back long enough for Natsu to fall, Natsu rooted himself into the ground. No longer pressured by Natsu's foot, Dan swung at Natsu's neck, in which Natsu responded by ducking. As he ducked underneath the sword, Natsu grabbed Dan's right arm which was currently holding onto the sword above the left arm. Dan frantically tried to free his arm but was unable. Natsu smirked as he used his free hand to punch Dan in the stomach. Dan attempted to step back but couldn't because of the grip Natsu held on Dan's right arm.

Dan, still able to rotate the sword, readjusted it so that it'd face Natsu's left arm which was currently holding Dan's right arm.

"If I were you, I'd let go right about now." Dan smirked at Natsu. Unbeknownst to Dan, Natsu's right arm went into his pocket as he began to search for something.

"Now why should I do that?" Natsu answered in a mocking tone. He finally grabbed onto the little box in his right pocket and began to pull it out.

"Because your arm is about to be sliced in two if you hold any longer." Dan said, readying his sword. Natsu pulled a match out of the little box with using one hand and lit it on fire without using the box. He connected it to the rest of the matchbox. The box began to light up in flames.

"Oh so you're going to slice my arm off?" Natsu mocked, pretending to be stupid.

"Exactly. So let go and surrender, or lose your arm. Your choice." Dan said, thinking he had won.

Gasps could be heard from the crowd. Never once had Dan Straight had to threaten a person with their limbs to make them back down. That was uncharted territory, even for the ruthless Dan Straight. Nobody expected this kind of outcome from the fight. Many people covered their eyes, they didn't want to watch his arm fall to the ground. Even Sting was starting to question if Natsu was going to come out okay. He never thought Dan would go this far himself. Not even when he was fighting Dan did Dan threaten to cut off his limbs. Yes, he had threatened Sting's life, but that was a clear bluff. Dan knew he couldn't kill anyone without being able to cover it up, and covering it up at a school isn't the easiest of places to hide the fact you just killed someone.

There was only one person in the crowd who knew better than to pity Natsu. That was Lucy Heartfilia. She stood with a straight face, refusing to believe that Natsu would lose. After all, Natsu beat Dan before. Lucy stood and watched the scene unfold. She was the only one to notice the smirk on Natsu's face after Dan threatened him with Natsu's left arm.

"How about the fire option?" Natsu asked with a smirk.

"Are you suggesting I burn you?" Dan asked.

"No, actually quite the opposite." Natsu said. His smirk grew into an evil smile and he pulled his right hand out and threw a box of matches now completely on fire at Dan. All of the lit matches inside of it scattered all over Dan's clothes, some hitting his skin, the others lighting his clothes aflame. However, the paper box itself hit Dan on his forehead, but not without lighting a piece of his hair on fire.

Dan recoiled in massive pain. The sword fell, and Natsu was able to retract his arm just in time to avoid a cut or worse from the gravity-propelled sword. Natsu took a step towards Dan as Dan's hair started lighting aflame. There were many burn marks all over his exposed skin from where the matches hit. Luckily none of his clothes caught on fire. Natsu felt pity for the man and patted his head enough to put out the fire. He would have eaten it but that would be scary to the crowd and also disgusting because it was tainted by Dan Straight's hair.

After putting the fire out, Natsu grabbed Dan by the back of the neck, holding Dan a few inches off the ground. He spoke up and said:

"IF ANY OF YOU DARE MESS WITH LUCY'S EMOTIONS LIKE THIS HEARTLESS BASTARD, YOU WILL HAVE TO DEAL WITH ME PERSONALLY." Natsu screamed at the crowd.

"I...never said ... that... I gave... up." Dan slowly spoke.

"Is that so?" Natsu said with a smile. He turned to the side and threw Dan so fast and far that he hit a tree almost 20 feet away, headfirst. People stood in shock as the kid easily chucked 150 lbs of Dan Straight-yness across the front of the school.

"How about now, Dan?" Natsu said.

"N..never." Dan croaked out.

Natsu walked over to the tree and grabbed Dan by the shirt, punching him across the face.

"What was that Dan?" Natsu said.

"I...said... that... I ... won't... give up..." Dan said in between breaths and screams of pain.

"Do you want me to throw you off the top of the school building?" Natsu said.

"I'd...like to... see you... try." Dan said, again, in much pain. With that, Natsu grabbed Dan, and ran into the school building. Before anyone could question him, they saw him on the roof holding a barely conscious Dan Straight over the ledge.

"Do you give up now?" Natsu asked again.

No answer.

"I SAID, DO YOU GIVE UP?" Natsu screamed at Dan.

No answer.

"WOULD YOU LIKE TO KISS THE PAVEMENT?" Natsu screamed at Dan.

No answer.

"Umm... Natsu is he even conscious?" Sting asked.

"Of course the damn fool is. He's got his eyes open and he's breathing in a conscious manner. He's just being stubborn." Natsu replied.

"I'm going to give you to the count of three to give up. No pile of money could save you now, Dan Straight." Natsu said.

"ONE." He said sternly, and loudly.

"TWO." He said, even louder.

"I'll never give up my Lulu." Dan croaked out, barely audible.

"NEVER GIVE HER UP? DO YOU UNDERSTAND WHAT YOU DID? YOU BROKE HER HEART! SHE DOESN'T EVEN WANT TO BE NEAR YOU AND YOU THINK YOU CAN STILL HAVE HER? SHE CAN'T BE BOUGHT DAN, SHE'S NOT YOUR LITTLE TOY. SHE HAS FEELINGS TOO AND SHE SHOULD BE ABLE TO EXPRESS THEM WITHOUT SOME OPPRESSIVE BOYFRIEND." Natsu screamed.

"But... she...told me that... she loved me." Dan said, barely audible.

"LOVED YOU? ARE YOU KIDDING? YOU USED HER. YOU KNEW SHE DIDN'T HAVE ANYONE AND YOU TOOK ADVANTAGE OF THAT. AND THEN YOU WENT AND CHEATED ON HER. YOU WERE THE ONLY PERSON SHE HAD AND YOU FUCKING CHEATED ON HER. HOW COULD YOU DAN?" He screamed, even louder.

"Because... she won't ever stop... loving me.." Dan said.

"WAKE UP DAN. LOOK DOWN AT HER RIGHT NOW. DO YOU SEE THE FACE SHE'S MAKING. SHE'S FROWNING AT YOU. SHE DOESN'T LOVE YOU. YOU BROKE HER HEART. SHE DOESN'T LOVE YOU ANYMORE. YOU USED HER, YOU DIDN'T TREAT HER WITH RESPECT AND NOW YOU PAY THE PRICE. GIVE UP NOW, OR DIE." Natsu screamed again.

A long silence passed over the school property. Nobody could believe what the saw. One minute a brawl was taking place, next their was a man being held over the edge of the school who was being yelled at for being an oblivious fool to the obvious. They were shocked that this random pink haired student cared so much for a random girl he probably just met.

"Lulu, do you still love me?" Dan croaked. Lucy shook her head, tears surfacing. She didn't expect it to be this hard.

"Fine then," Dan continued, "I give up."

Natsu dropped Dan mistakingly, and everyone began to scream. Dan fell into a tall bush planted in front of the school and was perfectly fine aside from the scrapes he had. Everyone sighed. As the crowd began to disperse, Natsu, who had come down the stairs and walked over to Dan, said:

"I hope you remember my deal. No talking to Lucy, ever. Understood?" Natsu said. Dan simply nodded his head. He knew there was no point in fighting back at the moment.

After talking to Dan, Natsu walked over to Lucy. He went over to her and said:

"Hey Lucy, I finally got you away from that idiot!" He finished that sentence with a bright smile.

"Hey N-Natsu?" Lucy asked, still emotionally confused. She wasn't sure, but she thought that Natsu just turned that into a fight for her.

"Yeah, what is it Lucy?" He answered, still smiling.

"Did you fight that for me? I mean I don't mean to be self-centered and all but you said that you would make whoever messed with my emotions regret it and so I thought that you fought for me but I'm not sure because you never said that so could you please tell me so that I don't have to worry?" Lucy asked, embarrassed and blushing, literally sticking three or four sentences into one, saying them extremely fast.

"Of course, you weirdo, who else would I have fought for?" Natsu said cheerfully. With that Lucy blushed even more. Natsu grabbed her hand and asked her:

"Hey we have a project due soon, would you like to work on it at my place today?"

"Of course." Lucy said, smiling back at Natsu, while blushing. Her blush was not going away anytime soon.

Those two found themselves walking home together, again...


	10. Chapter 10: Projects And Decorations

**Chapter 10! Double digits. I doubt this will make it to triple digits but if it does, congratulations future me! (The words might though, still not sure about that though.) Anyways, here's the chapter.**

**Anyways, Chapter 10!**

* * *

Confused, elated, and grateful. Emotions like these ran through Lucy Heartfilia's brain all at once. She had no idea why she was the center of that fight? Was Natsu really looking out for her?

That's what confused her. Someone she just met is actually caring about _her_ safety, willing to fight someone she _hates_ to keep that person away. Who would do that for _her?_ I mean she doesn't even have any friends besides Natsu and formerly Dan. Yet Natsu was protecting her. _Why go through all the trouble... for me?_

At the same time she was elated. She was overjoyed with the fact that Natsu protected her as to go as far as to fight her. That he was willing to get hurt to fight for her safety. She found herself thinking that Natsu was indeed her protector. She couldn't help but smile at the way he made it sound like it was obvious that he was fighting for her.

Grateful. She was grateful for the same reason she was happy. She had a protector, a true friend, not one who would exclude her from the world, but one who would face it beside her and protect her as she adventured through it an-

"Hey Lucy what are you thinking about?" Natsu said, interrupting her train of thought.

"Oh nothing really. I was just really curios as to why you picked the fight to help _me_." She responded.

"It sounded like the creep wasn't going away until someone pounded sense into him, so I thought I might as well do it!" He said pridefully.

"W-well thanks Natsu." Lucy responded.

"Anything for you, Lucy." He responded. The words flew right out of his mouth. He didn't realize what he had said until he saw Lucy's extremely red blush.

After that, neither said much. They walked down the street in silence looking at different things. Natsu realized that this place, although called Magnolia, had a very different atmosphere to it. The feel of the town was different from the one back at Earthland's Magnolia. However, he couldn't quite get a grip on what it was. When he realized he was getting close to where they lived, Natsu being a few minutes away from Lucy, he asked her:

"Hey wanna come to my place. I have a lot more space to work with, so it'll be easier. Besides I'm a little closer to the center of town so I can easily pick us up some food."

"Umm, sure I don't really mind."

With that they kept walking forward, passing Lucy's house. Even from outside, Natsu could smell the vanilla mixed with Lucy. It smelled great, it was like mixing the two greatest smells in the world and getting something better.

As they got to Natsu's home, they walked in and put their stuff down. Natsu told her he was going to get her some pizza, and Lucy agreed, saying that she was going to go buy some supplies. Natsu gave her some money from the desk where there was absolutely tons. There had to be at least ten thousand dollars stored in that safe underneath the desk.

"So where'd you get all this money? Don't tell me you stole it all!" Lucy asked.

"Of course I didn't! But, honestly, I don't know. It was here I when I came. Almost as if someone expected me to show up. It's kinda weird you know, I was told I'd need money, but I didn't expect to get this much!"

"Oh okay. Just making sure you're not a thief." Lucy said.

"Do I look like a thief?" Natsu asked.

"I don't know, I haven't seen a lot of people with pink hair." Lucy responded.

Nothing more was said after that. Natsu left to go get the pizza, and Lucy went for the supplies.

* * *

When they came back, Natsu had two pizzas in his arm and a bottle of Coca-Cola. He'd never drank anything other than fire-containing liquids but he settled with the coke because it seemed like that was what everyone else was getting.

Lucy returned from the craft store with a bunch of supplies. They were to make a 3D model of any historic battle and so she decided that she'd pick up everything at once. The project wasn't due until Monday, but both of them knew they'd forget. Plus they wanted to enjoy the weekend together and thought it'd be best if they didn't wait around until Sunday night.

Natsu and Lucy began to eat and discuss their project. Natsu thought about what the scene would look like and Lucy knew she'd be the one to put it together because there's no way Natsu could ever do something like that without either getting frustrated and breaking everything or just quitting. In the end, it was around 10:00pm when they finished their project. It only took them four hours and they were happy with the results. Natsu told her to stay at his house for the night and she decided she didn't want to walk home alone in the dead of night, so she complied.

When they both decided to crash, Natsu told her that she could have the bed. She suspected Natsu to do something but she was too tired to care. All the thinking, planning, and constructing wore her out. She was glad to be done and decided not to make a big deal out of Natsu sleeping next to her. At least not for now.

The rest of the weekend went by uneventful. Natsu and Lucy hung out for most of it, mainly because Lucy didn't have anyone else to be around and they both enjoyed each other's company.

* * *

When school rolled around on Monday, Natsu and Lucy walked in with their project. They immediately went into their 2nd period room to put it down but left shortly thereafter. They split up to go to class and neither noticed how no one would go near Natsu or dare mess with Lucy. They saw what he did to Dan and they were sure as hell afraid of the same fate happening to them. Some of the students even pointed out how much Natsu and Lucy look like a couple. Natsu heard the whispers with his super dragon hearing and decided to let them slide. After all, it didn't sound too bad to him.

From that point on, Natsu was looking forward to meeting Lucy after school everyday. They enjoyed their previous two walks home and it gave them an excuse to hang out for the day, so Natsu was all for it. He didn't know that Lucy was too.

The week passed, and Natsu and Lucy were still inseparable. They spent so much time together. They didn't go a day without talking to each other. They grew much closer and by then, Natsu knew everything about Lucy, and Lucy knew everything about Natsu. Even though Natsu wanted to go home, he didn't feel like he could drag Lucy away from her world by force. So he decided to stay, and forget about **it** for a while. He would convince her. After all, it wouldn't be too hard because Lucy sounded really excited to meet his friends (though he never told her he was going to take her to his Magnolia or anything about the glowing wrists).

On Sunday, Lucy decided she needed to go shopping.

"Hey Natsu, can we go shopping today?" Lucy asked.

"Why? I thought you went last week. Forget to buy something?" Natsu asked, curiously. He never loved shopping, but he put up with it for Lucy. Plus, she always bought him something tasty if he agreed to come along.

"Well yeah, but I want to buy some Christmas decorations because it's that time of year." Lucy said plainly.

"What time of year?" Natsu answered back.

"You know, Christmas? The day where everyone gives gifts and is all happy and merry." Lucy said.

"No, not really. Is it some kinda special celebration?" Natsu asked back, curious about this special day. (A.N. Technically this is AU so Natsu doesn't need to know what Christmas is)

"Yeah, you could say so. Mostly people give and get gifts during the holidays." Lucy answered.

"What kinds of gifts? Like anything?" Natsu asked.

"Well yeah you could give anything. But it has to be something _special _to the person. You can't just spend a lot of money. It has to be something you buy from the heart. Something that you know the person would want." Lucy said.

"Oh okay. Sounds easy." Natsu answered.

"EASY? DID YOU EVEN LISTEN?" Lucy screamed at him. She didn't think he was picking up on the whole meaning of giving gifts.

"Yeah give something that's important to someone. It's not _that_ hard." He answered.

"Whatever, so you coming or what?" Lucy asked.

"Sure thing, Lucy!" Natsu answered, before adding, "So you're going to buy peoples' gifts today?"

"No, not yet. I can't because I don't know what to get and who I'm getting gifts for." Lucy answered. Although she knew Natsu would really be the only person she could get a gift for. After all, she didn't have anyone else who was close enough for her to get him/her gifts.

"So what are you shopping for?" Natsu asked.

"Decorations."

"Decorations?"

"You know, Christmas stuff. To make the apartment have Christmas spirit and all." Lucy answered.

"Oh" was all Natsu could say. He never experienced a crazy holiday like this. December 25th. He knew he better write that down. He thought that he might as well learn a bit from Lucy so that when they go back to the guild they can show them this crazy new holiday and Natsu can get tons of presents. Of course, being Natsu, he overlooked the whole giving presents part. For now, at least.

When they got to the mall, Lucy went crazy. It was crazily stocked with all things Christmas. She ended up buying enough decorations to cover her entire apartment. After they left the mall, Lucy decided to go to the grocery store to get supplies to make things like sugar cookies and gingerbread men. When Natsu found out about the holiday foods, he went absolutely insane. He decided that Christmas was going to be a thing back in his Magnolia for sure.

It was late in the afternoon when they finally got home, the sun was setting already by the time they got to Lucy's apartment. Natsu spent a lot of his time there, even on occasions spending the night.

"Okay, so now that you have the decorations, what are you going to do?" Natsu asked.

"Well, obviously, I'm going to hang them up. I didn't buy them to sit in a box." Lucy answered.

"Oh, cool." Natsu answered, almost emotionless.

"Well can you help? It'd make it go by a lot faster." Lucy said.

"Uh sure, what do you need?"

"Just take these stocking holders and put them on top of the fire place. Then put these stockings on them."

"Okay, anything else?"

"Just come back when you're done with that. We shouldn't have that much stuff to hang."

An hour and a half later, Natsu and Lucy finished decorating. When they did, Natsu couldn't help but notice a gap in the decorations. He didn't want to have to move any though, so he decided not to speak up about it. Hanging up Christmas decorations wasn't nearly as fun as eating sugar cookies. Speaking of which...

"Hey Lucy, didn't you promise me some sugar cookies?" Natsu asked.

"Is it always food with you?" Lucy answered back as she headed towards her bed.

"It's just that you said they were tasty." Natsu said.

"Well, I'll make them tomorrow. I'm kind of tired because of the Christmas decorating we did today. Thanks for helping by the way." Lucy said pulling the covers back.

"You're welcome Lucy!" Natsu said, flashing a bright smile to Lucy.

"Well I'm going to go to bed now, since we have school tomorrow." Lucy said, pulling herself under the covers.

"Alright then, good night." Natsu said before hopping into bed next to Lucy.

"Uh... What do you think you're doing, Natsu?" Lucy asked.

"Sleeping." Natsu said simply.

"In _my_ bed." Lucy said, emphasizing 'my'.

"Yeah I know. You got the best bed ever Lucy!" Natsu said.

"And why is that?" Lucy asked, curious but at the same time frustrated. Even though Natsu explained it before, it was a while ago and she doesn't remember.

"Because it smells so good. Plus it's really soft." Natsu said.

"Smells good? Smells pretty normal to me." Lucy said, not seeing the truth in Natsu's words.

"Well duh. That's 'cuz it smells like you, Lucy. That's why you can't smell it." Natsu said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

It may have been a simple answer to Natsu, but Lucy couldn't help but blush at how her friend unknowingly complimented her. It was just one of the many times Natsu would do that. She was always surprised about how blunt he was, but still she couldn't help but appreciate the compliments, especially knowing that Natsu spoke his mind and nothing else. She figured being blunt had an upside. It made everything he said believable because he didn't hide it from anyone.

Lost in her thoughts, she forgot about the pink-haired dragon slayer sleeping right next to her until he wrapped his arms around her waist like usual. Oh, he was so going to get it in the morning. Laughing to herself about all the ways she would get him back in the morning, she fell into a calm sleep.


	11. Chapter 11: Getting a Tree

**Wow, Chapter 11! Yay updates? I guess yay! If that's what you like. Updates are always fun. Fun if you like what's being updated! Anyways, I find it kind of weird writing about Christmas in July, although it will all make sense in time. It's all about the chronology... **

**Without further ado, Chapter 11!**

* * *

In the morning, when Natsu woke up, he remembered he wasn't alone in hi-Lucy's bed. He knew he was going to be screamed at but he always knew it was worth it if he got to sleep in his best friend's bed. It was just so overwhelmingly amazing to sleep in that bed. Although his bed was soft, the one at Lucy's was slightly softer. That and it smelled amazing. It just radiated that beautiful smell that he couldn't ever get enough of. Those two things, well three if you count Lucy being there, made it most definitely his favorite part of the day.

Thinking and smelling Lucy's scent at the same time, he didn't notice when Lucy woke up until she started to move. Luckily for Natsu, she forgot about him being there for a minute, so Natsu slowly slipped his arms away from Lucy and tried to sneak out of bed when Lucy's voice froze him in place.

"Hey, Natsu you know we have school today, right?" She said sleepily.

"Umm, yeah why?" Natsu asked.

"Well you know those cookies you wanted me to make you?"

"Yeah?"

"Well I need to get stuff to make them but we'd have to go after school. Sound good?"

"Sure thing Lucy!" Natsu answered back.

The two of them proceeded to get ready. It seemed like Lucy had forgotten all about her plans to get Natsu back. When she did remember though, she shrugged it off. She slept so well last night that she actually wouldn't have minded it happening again. Not that she'd ever confess something like that to Natsu. The last thing she needs is for him to live in her house.

* * *

After school was over, the two of them walked towards the grocery store.

"Wow Lucy, everything is so close to your apartment! You don't even have to get in any stupid vehicles!" Natsu exclaimed.

"Yeah Natsu, I picked that apartment for a reason. I wanted to get a little more exercise so I forced myself to walk everywhere." Lucy said.

"Well if you ever get tired, you know I could give you a piggyback ride or something." Natsu offered, making Lucy blush at his thoughtfulness. He wasn't very bright, but he for sure knew how to make someone feel special.

Once Natsu finished speaking, he looked up to see that they were in the store. When he went inside, he watched Lucy pick out a lot of weird things that he would have never thought go into a cookie. Especially the eggs. He had to remind himself that he never really cooked anything for himself so it'd be best just to let her pick up the things they needed.

When they got home, Natsu helped Lucy bring in the groceries and specially set the ones for cooking on the kitchen counter. He was actually glad his friends weren't there for a moment. If they ever found out he was helping someone else with something as easy as groceries, they'd think he went insane.

Lucy pulled out some cookie cutters, some in the shape of stars, trees, and candy canes. They didn't go unnoticed by Natsu though.

"Hey Lucy what's with the metal thingies that are in weird shapes?" Natsu asked holding up the tree cookie cutter.

"Oh those? They're cookie cutters. You use them to shape the cookies." She answered.

"But why a tree? I mean what's a tree gotta do with Christmas?" Natsu asked again.

"Well you see, some people put special Christmas trees in their homes as a decoration. People usually place their gifts underneath the tree to be opened on Christmas." She explained. She was a little saddened because Christmas trees were always her favorite part of Christmas as a kid but she didn't think she could get one into her apartment without hiring someone. She didn't have the money to do so, so it was no Christmas tree for her.

"Well why don't you have a Christmas tree then?" Natsu asked, picking up on Lucy's sadness.

"I can't carry it all the way back from wherever we get it from." Lucy answered, stating the obvious.

"But I can! Come on let's go get a Christmas tree, Lucy!" Natsu said, excitedly. His excitement made Lucy smile though. That and the fact that he was willing to carry a tree back to her apartment.

"We don't have time today, but we can always go get one on Friday." Lucy said.

"Where would we put it though? You said they go inside right?" Natsu asked.

"There's a little gap in the decorations over there that I left on purpose. I think it should be able to fit in that spot." Lucy said.

"Okay then! Well that settles it. We're going to get a tree for you on Friday!" Natsu said again.

"Thanks Natsu." She answered with a smile.

"By the way, why'd you buy this?" Natsu asked, holding up some ingredients to make frosting.

"Well that's for the frosting to put on the cookies. It makes it sweeter but also makes the cookies look nice." Lucy answered.

* * *

Friday rolled around before they knew it, and it was already only two weeks until Christmas. Natsu and Lucy went to a field that had Christmas trees growing on it. Lucy picked out a tree that she liked and Natsu paid for it and had it cut down and netted so that the tree would be easier to carry. They asked him if he wanted help attaching the tree to his car and he said that he didn't bring a car. The men gave him a shocked look and wished him luck on his way home. He and Lucy left together and Natsu waved a goodbye to the people who helped him pick out the tree.

On their way back, Lucy explained to him all the different things you put on a tree. As they approached her apartment Natsu asked Lucy:

"Hey, do you have a garage here?"

"Well it's a shared one. More for storage purposes than anything but yeah let me show you."

The two walked to the garage and Natsu took a small saw that was hanging on the wall. He filled a bucket with water, cut a small part of the tree trunk off so that it would accept the water in the bucket.

"What are you doing, Natsu?" Lucy asked.

"Well since you're bringing the tree into a warmer area, you have to slowly adjust it so that it doesn't freak out and die right away. So it's going to sit out here all night."

"How do you know this stuff?" Lucy asked again.

"Damn Stripper." Was all Natsu mumbled. She immediately knew it was Gray.

"So we can bring it in and decorate it tomorrow?" Lucy asked, returning to the subject.

"Yep! And then put lots of those ornament thingies you were talking about on it!"

With that, the two walked up to Lucy's apartment and sat on the couch.

"Thanks Natsu."

"For what?"

"Getting me this tree. Did I ever tell you that Christmas trees are my favorite Christmas decoration?"

"It wasn't a big deal. I saw how much you wanted one, so I figured it was your favorite thing."

A small silence fell upon the room until Lucy broke it by asking:

"Hey Natsu, could you make a fire in the fireplace over there? Don't forget to open the flue." Lucy asked.

"Of course."

Natsu got busy making a fire, and rather than slowly lighting it using newspaper, he decided just to breathe on it until it light aflame. He put enough wood on the fire to last an hour or so, which wasn't that long. He sat back down on the couch and exhaled deeply. Carrying the tree back wasn't hard, but the walk made his feet a little sore. He probably thought the same thing happened to Lucy, so he decided not to complain about it.

Meanwhile, Lucy was thinking. She was staring out into the nighttime sky wondering what the heck happened to her life. If she told her seven year old self who was living with her mother and father happily that she would have run away and met Natsu, the younger Lucy would have laughed in her face. But it happened. Everything happens for a reason, just what was this reason?

"Hey Natsu?" Lucy asked, a little hesitantly.

"Yeah Lucy?"

"Why have you been so nice to me the past few weeks? I'm not complaining or anything. It's just that no one has ever done this much for me. Most people only befriended me for their own needs."

"'Cuz you're the best, Lucy! Spending time with you is the most fun I've ever had since I was with Igneel! I don't know what it is but I really like being around you, watching you smile, hearing you laugh and all that stuff."

She blushed at that and remembered how Natsu said Igneel was the closest person to him in the world. So she felt extremely happy when she found out that she meant that much to a person. She always had a hard time knowing that there was no one there to care for her. But when she met Natsu, she began to feel important again. She thought it was normal but she's grown to care for Natsu more than a friend. He was her protector, her guardian angel, her dragon. She didn't think Natsu was doing anything special for her. After all, she knew how much Natsu cared for his friends. But that didn't stop her from feeling special, and for developing feelings for him.

Yes, she had just found out that someone she thought loved her had really only been using her. But she also realized that the person who sat next to her was nothing like that man. There was no way Natsu could ever do something so heartless to a person. In fact, Natsu was just the opposite. He protected her, but he didn't isolate her. He took injuries, challenges, and made bets to protect her. He came into her life by some highly unlikely fate with an extremely odd background that she even doubted at first. But she saw how much Natsu did for her. Even the simple act of getting her a tree because she wanted one. She could have easily lived without a tree. But nope, Natsu got her a Christmas tree without her even asking.

She looked back at Natsu, who was currently staring hungrily at the fire in the fireplace, wondering how in the world she got into this mess.

* * *

The next morning, Natsu got up and walked over to Lucy's room. He had fallen asleep on the couch last night. Lucy wasn't there though. He figured she must have gone back to her room to sleep so Natsu walked into her room. When he got in the room, he smiled at her sleeping figure. He realized that she was extremely beautiful. Natsu just shrugged when he thought that. He realized that Lucy was his mate a while ago, but he figured he'd leave it be for now. He wasn't going to scare Lucy right away by proclaiming his undying love when she woke up.

People usually thought he was dense. That he never knew what love was. But in truth, he knew everything. He just hid it. In fact, his personality was so cheery and simple-minded that people thought he was dense when in reality, he was actually pretty smart. He wasn't a genius like Levy or Freed but he knew the basics of everything... including romance.

Lucy began to wake up and the first thing she saw was Natsu's smiling face. She thought she must still be dreaming, especially after she sorted out her feelings last night. No way did she just wake up next to _him_ of all people. She rubbed her eyes with her hands and when she saw that he was still there, but that his attention was now focused on her, she screamed:

"Natsu!"

"Yeah Lucy?"

"What are you doing here? And why are you sitting here?"

"You were asleep and I decided to wait for you to wake up so I was gonna wait here so that I'd know when you were up."

"So you were watching me sleep?"

"Uhh... Kinda, yeah?" It came out as more of a question. Natsu knew fully well what he was saying so he didn't want to make it sound too obvious.

"Oh alright then. So can we decorate that tree today?" Lucy asked, still blushing from Natsu's last answer.

"Of course! I'll go bring it in." Natsu said running to the door.

He went out and picked the tree up out of the garage, and walked back up to Lucy's apartment. He placed it gently into the tree stand they had set up last night. He undid the tying on the tree, allowing its branches to spread out. Meanwhile, Lucy had pulled out a box of ornaments, that she'd hang when she was a kid, to hang on the tree. Right before she put the first ornament on, Natsu reminded her of the Christmas lights that needed to be put on the tree. Lucy left and came back a few minutes later with a bunch of Christmas lights. Natsu took them and began to decorate the tree. After he finished, they began to hang ornaments. When the tree was finally finished, Lucy pulled out a star that she had adored when she was a kid. She had made sure to grab it when she ran away from home.

"Hey Lucy?"

"Yeah Natsu?"

"You really like that star, dontcha?"

"Yeah I do. I always liked stars, ever since I was a little kid. My mother taught me everything about the stars and the zodiac. I love stars because they remind me of my mother."

"That's cool Lucy. Anyways, want me to put it on the tree?"

"Sure Natsu, go ahead." With that, Natsu took the star and placed it on the tree. He began to think about what sounded so familiar to him... Zodiac... Zodiac what though?... He decided he'd think about it later, and take this time to enjoy his awesome Christmas tree creation. He could show that damn stripper that he was fully capable of doing something not so destructive.

A little while after, the two of them looked outside. It was... Snowing? Natsu hadn't really ever seen snow. Most of the time if he saw it, it was just because of Gray. Gray sometimes froze Juvia's rain before it fell because he thought it'd be nice for a snow day. The two of them would use their magic to make it snow. Sometimes Natsu wanted to punch Gray... well actually he always wanted to punch Gray. But in particular, he wanted to punch Gray for being so damn oblivious to Juvia. But that wasn't his love life to interfere in. He had to deal with his own right now... He had to make Lucy love him.

"Wow, I haven't seen snow in a while." Natsu said.

"It's weird, it doesn't usually snow here. Actually it hasn't snowed here in three years." Lucy said.

"Hey, you wanna go outside and grab some hot chocolate?" Natsu asked.

"Sounds great!" Lucy answered.


	12. Chapter 12: Snowy Field, Starry Sky

**Here's a Chapter 12. I broke 30k words with last chapter so here's to another 30k! (If it gets there. I'm planning about 25 chapters by the way). Anyways, these next two or three chapters will be slower. I apologize if you like fighting, because that's going to have to wait a little bit. But still! There's still quite to more to be written and I'm really excited for it! I've got the next few chapters entirely thought out in my head, so as long as I don't get amnesia, I should be good.**

**Another thing I'd like to mention is the use of PoV. As you could probably tell, this story is written in a third person perspective. Going forward, I'm going to either write stories with single PoVs (as in, the same character tells the story the entire time) or third person perspective. The only real difference is that I get a little more freedom with third person perspective because I can show you everyone's feelings as well as scenes that don't involve the main character. However in some instances, that mystery effect is rather helpful.**

**Wow, that's probably my longest Author's Note I've written. Don't worry though, it won't cut the chapter short!**

* * *

Two friends, or at least that's what they thought they were, headed outside for some fun in the snow. It's been a while for Lucy in particular. After all, she hasn't played in the snow since her mother was alive. Her father didn't want her to get sick so he just assumed it'd be best if she didn't go outside during snowstorms. When Lucy ran away, she decided that she'd enjoy the snow as much as she could, because she missed the softness and fluffiness of it.

Natsu on the other hand was not too fond of snow. He had liked it a bunch, but it constantly reminded him of Gray. Gray, or stripper as Natsu would like to call him, was definitely not friendly towards Natsu. Although he didn't admit it, Natsu looked at him and Gray as best buds, they just showed their friendship through punches and insults instead of the normal getting along. He realized it had been about three weeks since the last time he talked to Gray or any of his guild mates. Happy was probably worried sick.

Then he remembered that he was supposed to go on the mission with Happy. That wasn't a big deal, other than that Happy was waiting for him at the guild to go on the mission, so he would've found out that something was up the day Natsu left. He realized his comrades were probably really worried about him, thinking he went off to look for Igneel without warning. He knew he should probably stop by, but he couldn't leave Lucy on her own, especially after he found out she was his mate.

Lucy saw Natsu staring out in the distance thinking about something with a serious face. It wasn't often that he thought about serious things, he was a happy-go-lucky kind of guy. Someone who never let anything get to them, who was always having fun. She couldn't help but think about what that dragon slayer was thinking about.

"Hey Natsu, what's got you down? Why are you thinking so hard?"

"Oh nothing..." No way was Natsu about to say he missed Gray.

"It's _not_ nothing if you're looking so down." Lucy said.

"It's... just that.. seeing the snow reminds me of Gray 'cause he's always making it snow back home." Natsu said. Yeah, so much for not telling her that you miss Gray.

"Oh." Noticing that he was missing his friends, she thought she might be holding him back. She started to frown too.

"Hey Lucy, don't get down, you're supposed to enjoy the snow!" Natsu said, regaining his cheerful nature.

"It's.. just that.. I feel like I'm holding you back from your friends." Lucy said very sadly. Although it was somewhat true, Natsu knew he was enjoying every moment with her.

"I can go back whenever I want. Sure I miss them, but they know I'm fine. And don't ever think you're holding me back, because you aren't. If I wasn't enjoying my time with you, I would have left already." Natsu said.

"So how long are you planning on staying Natsu?" Lucy asked.

"Honestly, I don't know. I have to go back eventually, but I'm having so much fun here that I don't know if I want to return anytime soon." Natsu answered honestly. Although his answer brought her the satisfaction of knowing that he didn't want to leave her, she realized it meant he must. So she'd enjoy every moment she had until he was gone.

While Lucy was thinking, Natsu picked up some snow and made a ball out of it. He threw it straight at Lucy and hit her on her left shoulder. It took her out of her thoughts, bringing her back to reality. She made a snowball and threw back at the unsuspecting Natsu. For the next thirty minutes, the two wouldn't stop throwing snowballs at each other, taking shelter behind trees, benches, garbage cans, and even other people. They even hit someone else who, to say the least, was less than happy. When he left, the two burst into laughter and continued their fight.

After they fought, Lucy found herself feeling cold. She offered Natsu a hot chocolate, and since Natsu likes all things hot, he couldn't help but say yes. The two of them walked further into town and grabbed hot chocolates and walked to the park. They sat down on one of the benches after Natsu melted the snow with his hands.

"Thanks for the hot chocolate, Lucy." Natsu said after sitting down on the bench.

"No problem Natsu. You deserve one after that snowball fight." Lucy answered.

"Hahaha, yeah that one guy who kept screaming at us because he got in the way, he was so funny." Natsu said chuckling.

"Well you kinda threw a snowball at his face." Lucy said.

"That wasn't my fault. You hid behind him." Natsu answered defensively.

"You were hiding behind someone yourself!" Lucy accused.

"Yeah but that's different!" Natsu argued.

"How? How is it different Natsu?" Lucy asked.

"Umm... I didn't hide behind a crabby old man who couldn't take a bit of snow." Natsu said. Lucy giggled at the silliness of his answer.

By then, the snow had stopped. It came down pretty hard since the morning, but it let up just before sunset. As the two sat there, they watched the sun set as they sat on the bench. Suddenly, an idea popped into Lucy's head.

"Hey Natsu come with me, I want to show you something."

"Uh okay Lucy. Where are we going?"

"You'll see." Lucy said. Then she added, "It's a surprise!"

The two of them walked to the edge of town. By then the sun had set. Lucy's apartment, however, was not only close to town, but close enough to the outskirts that it was only about a twenty minute walk from her home. However, since they were walking from the center of town, they took about forty-five minutes. During those minutes, Natsu thought about all the possible things that Lucy could show him. Most were ridiculous, some were probable, but the thing she showed him completely shocked him.

"A hill?"

"Not just any hill, Natsu. You can see the stars really well from the top of it!"

"Oh okay." Natsu answered. Even though he wasn't too interested, he figured he might as well go along with what she was saying. When they got to the top of the hill, he asked another question.

"So why'd you wanna show me the stars Lucy?"

"Well they're really pretty at this time of night. Plus I don't get to seem them that much at this time of year since it's so cold outside."

"But isn't it cold out tonight?" Natsu asked.

"Yeah, but you're here silly. You won't let me freeze would you?" Lucy said while pouting. Even though she knew she was asking for something that was clearly crossing the line of friendship, she wanted to make sure she enjoyed these last few days before he left for good.

"O-Of course, why would I let something like that ever happen to you?" Natsu said.

The two of them sat down, Natsu wrapped his arms around Lucy to keep her warm. He focused some fire on his hands so that they'd be really warm, and since she was able to feel his flames without hurt, it soothed her and made her feel relaxed. Now that she was comfortable, she immediately turned into a kid in a candy store, pointing out all the constellations to Natsu. Natsu sat there and listened, he figured he could learn a thing or two about her interests so that he knew what to get her for Christmas.

"Wow Lucy! You sure know a lot about stars!" Natsu said.

"Yeah..." Lucy said trailing off with some sadness. "Mama was an astronomer. She loved the stars. She taught me everything I know about stars. Every time I see them I think about her..."

"So you really love the stars Lucy?" Natsu asked.

"Of course. It's pretty obvious since I know almost everything about them! Why do you ask?" Lucy said.

"Oh no reason..."

For a few minutes, Lucy went back describing more things in the skies. She pointed out more of them while she was thinking about how her mother wasn't there anymore. She realized it wasn't going to be long until Natsu wasn't so she began to speak her mind a bit.

"We've really done a lot together Natsu." Lucy said.

"Yeah, I haven't had this much fun in years!" Natsu said back, cheerfully.

"Even though you're in an awesome guild? I mean your life sounds pretty sweet to me." Lucy asked.

"Well yeah, I have fun there too. But I have more fun with you." Natsu said bluntly, causing Lucy to blush.

"Yeah Natsu, I'm definitely going to miss you." She said, words slipping right out of her mouth before she processed what she said.

"Who said I was going anywhere?" Natsu asked.

"Didn't you say that you had to go back to your world soon?" Lucy asked.

"Yeah, of course. I can't stay here forever, you know."

"Exactly. So you're going to leave."

"No, I'm taking you with me." Natsu said bluntly. Lucy was caught off guard when Natsu said those words so casually.

"What do mean you're taking me with you?" She asked.

"It's exactly what it sounds like. There's no way I'd ever leave you. You mean too much to me." Natsu answered. At that, Lucy felt honored and her blush only deepened. But still, she didn't think he understood what he was saying.

"Don't you think people would worry if you took them away?" Lucy asked.

"Not you. You always said you wanted friends right? Besides it's not like you'd have that many people here crying over you." Natsu said.

"Good point. So when are you going back?"

"Whenever you want? I mean. I really don't care. I just wanted to spend time with you, that's all." At that, Lucy was seriously glad it was dark out. If it were daylight, Natsu would have been able to see just how red her cheeks were.

"So why'd you come here in the first place Natsu?"

"It was a dream really. You know I had this weird dream that told me to go to this weird place that made me end up here!" Natsu answered.

"So couldn't you have just gone back right away? I mean what's stopping you." Lucy asked, again.

"I was actually supposed to find someone." Natsu answered, again.

"Who were you supposed to find?" Lucy asked.

"You remember that day when I first met you? Or really it was the second day. First day we had an actual conversation. You know the first time I fought Dan. You remember how our wrists glowed when I put my right wrist to your right wrist? I was supposed to find the girl who had that glow." Natsu said.

At that, Lucy's world came crashing down. She thought he was here on his own accordance. But really he came just to find the person whose wrist glowed next to his. She felt hurt, betrayed, once more. She started to squirm in Natsu's arms. She needed to leave. She felt used once more. She needed to go. And she needed to leave _now._

"Lucy why are you struggling?" Natsu asked. At this point Lucy was crying.

"Because you only became my friend so that you could take me back! You didn't care about me! You just wanted to fulfill your stupid mission. Well I'm sorry, but I'm not leaving with you!"

With that, Lucy got up and began to run. It wasn't long before she tripped on a rock. Before she fell, Natsu caught her.

"I thought you knew me Lucy! Don't you remember? Don't you remember that I learned things about you before I tested it out on you. Wasn't I already your friend? So why would you accuse me of this. If I really didn't care about you I would have dragged you back. And you know I'm not lying when I say I could. I could just use my fire and everything would be fine. Yes, I needed you to go back. Yes, you were the person I came looking for. But you, you're more than just some girl with a glowing wrist." He paused. Was he going to say it? Yes he had to. It was now or never. He took a deep breath before saying, "You're the girl who I absolutely fell for when I first saw. I immediately knew that you were my mate, but I didn't want to tell you because we were strangers. I also had a mission though. I needed to find this person. But seriously Lucy! I was ecstatic when I found out it was you. It was like a dream come true. Not only were you my mate, but you were the one who I needed to bring back. It was _perfect._"

"You... love... me?" Lucy asked, more shocked than angry.

"Of course I love you. Why else do you think I stood up for you all the time? Lucy... you don't know what a dragon's mate is?" Natsu asked.

"No, of course not _stupid_. I'm not a dragon, and neither are you!" Lucy said, giggling while pretending to be angry. She was too elated to keep her angry face intact.

"Well my magic makes me take on ALL the qualities of a dragon. Including a dragon's heart. So yes, I follow the same rules of love as a dragon, silly."

"What are the rules for that?"

"It's simple really. All dragons get one mate, or wife or whatever you want to call it. Either way, we get one. Even if we don't end up with that person, that's the only person we could ever love. We know exactly who it is when we first see them. A dragon's mate is also eternal. You can't get out of it. There's no stupid divorce that some idiot humans thought up. Dragons are possessive around their mates. They don't let anyone else touch their mate. A dragon's mate also shares the same lifespan of the dragon. So the person with a shorter life span would take on one that would last as long as the dragon's. A dragon would do anything for its mate. If a dragon tries to claim someone who isn't their mate, it's not successful."

"So you're saying that I'm your fated one? That's too good to be true." Lucy said, full out laughing.

"Yeah well I don't control how the world works either. All I know is that you're my mate. So I can't live without you." Natsu said bluntly.

"So if you knew I was your mate, you kept me here longer anyways. But why? Couldn't you have taken me back right when you met me? You know I wouldn't have refused." Lucy asked.

"I wanted to claim you first. I didn't want to take you back to Fairy Tail and have all the other guys flirt with you." That made her heart skip a beat. He was here away from his friends so that she could fall in love with him without interference.

"Claim me? How would you do that?" Lucy asked.

"Kinda like wedding vows. You know, promise each other that you'll be faithful to the other for all _eternity_." Natsu answered.

"Nothing other than that?" Lucy asked again.

"Well we do get a mate mark. It's not too large. It's a red, in my case, dragon. Plus whatever the heck it decides you are." Natsu explained.

"Where does it go?" She continued to ask.

"Right wrist." He said simply.

"Seems like a lot of important things go on my right wrist." Lucy chuckled after saying that.

"So would you be my mate?" Natsu asked.

"You didn't even ask if I felt the same way." She said blankly.

"Yeah well I mean since you're kinda the only person I could ever love... I need to know." He answered nervously. Was fate really going to do this to him? Make him fall in love with a girl he couldn't be with?

"Well of course I'd be your mate!" She said happily. "You've made my life so much better! You came in and saved me from Dan. If it weren't for you, I probably would have gone suicidal after I found out that Dan was cheating on me. I was almost at the point of giving up on thinking that anyone would care about me. When you stuck up for me, I couldn't help but realize that you're my hero. When you offered to buy me that tree, I couldn't help but love how you were doing it to make me happy. You _saved _me. You did so much for me, how could you expect me not to love you?"

Without warning, Natsu pulled Lucy into a kiss. Natsu had never kissed anyone in his life but he was amazed at just how amazing it felt. After being shocked, Lucy slowly began to respond. She kissed him back with just as much passion. She felt like she was on fire. Her kisses with Dan were nothing compared to this. This kiss had so much passion. They had been both waiting to let out all of their emotions and were finally given the chance to. When they finally pulled away, Natsu answered her question.

"I don't know Lucy. Love is complicated."

"Not for you it isn't. It's so unfair. Why do you get to know right away who you get to be with?" Lucy pouted.

"I don't know, but I'm glad it's you. I couldn't picture myself with anyone else." Natsu chuckled while looking at Lucy's pouting face. He then added, "Hey let's go home, it's getting kinda late. You do need some sleep."

"Alright then, but first you're going to make me your mate." She answered happily.

"A-are you sure Lucy? I mean we've only known each other for three weeks."

"Of course I'm sure! Why wouldn't I be? Besides didn't you just ask?"

"Yeah, but I just wanted to know so you wouldn't run off."

"Well if you're planning on not letting me go, why don't you just make me your mate now? Besides if I really am your 'mate' then I'd get the mark right? You said if I wasn't then I wouldn't have the mark. And if you're my mate and I'm yours then that would mean we really are fated."

"Jeez Lucy you're so smart. Remind me in my next life to ask you to be my mate right away."

The two walked back home, hand in hand. They were both more than glad to have each other. Their lives were forever changed and they were ready to throw whatever life sent their way. Because they were together. _Forever_. That night, Natsu and Lucy said their mate vows and it was successful. Lucy's right wrist had a red dragon postured in the position of the draco constellation. On the dragon's body was the line of stars that created the draco constellation connected by lines. She assumed that was just because of her hobby. But Natsu knew what it meant.

* * *

_Meanwhile, back at Fairy Tail..._

"Jeez, it's so boring around here without Flame Brain." Gray said tiredly.

"Wow, you actually miss him? What was that about hating his existence?" A drunk Cana said back.

"Oh shut up!" Gray shouted before he mumbled a few things about how he didn't have anyone to fight with.

Meanwhile, Juvia took this as her opportunity to see Gray, so she walked over to his table and sat down next to him. She gave him some motivational words.

"Don't worry, Gray. Juvia believes that Natsu will return soon. He's probably just off looking for Igneel again. He should be back soon."

"Yeah he better because I'm gonna kick that matchstick's ass as soon as he gets back. I need a good fight." He said. Then he turned his attention to Juvia before saying, "Thanks, Juvia."

"Anything for Gray~!" She answered with hearts in her eyes.

Just then someone bursted through the door. It was Erza. She had went out to search for Natsu, unfortunately coming back with nothing. She was like his big sister, so she couldn't help but worry when her little brother ran away.

"Did you find him Erza?" Gray asked.

"No, I haven't seen him anywhere. Nobody has. It's weird. Where could he have gone?" Erza thought aloud.

"Don't worry, the boy will show up in due time." The master said, coming out of nowhere.

"But Master, it's been three weeks. He could be lost or hurt. He hasn't left without telling us in years!" Erza said, frustrated.

"I know you're worried, Erza. But I'm sure wherever he is, he will return on his own time. It's nothing to worry over." Makarov said calmly.

"Yeah, Salamander is probably just having a fun time off on his own." Gajeel added. Although he and Makarov knew where Natsu was, they didn't know if he was alive. So they didn't say anything.

"How about we have a bet, to see if he comes back or not?" Cana suggested.

"How cruel to think your friend isn't coming back! But still, 20,000 Jewel he comes back." Gray said.

"I'll bet 50,000 he'll be back." Gajeel said.

"Me too." Said Happy. He needed the fish money.

"Well you all have so much confidence he's coming back, you aren't going to get any opposition. Why not bet on how he returns?" Cana asked.

"Okay then Cana. I bet 200,000 Jewels... that Natsu... will return... with a girlfriend!" Lisanna said trying to stand up. She was well beyond drunk at this point thanks to Cana.

"You're insane if you think that idiot would return with a girl." Gray answered.

"Yeah I second that. Salamander is too stupid." Gajeel added.

"It's probably just that alcohol talking. Regardless, add me in." Erza said.

Pretty soon it was Lisanna vs. most of the guild in the betting pool. Everyone thought Lisanna was out of her mind. She did have a lot to drink, so they kind of felt bad making that bet with her. But they took it anyway, seeing it as free money. Nobody would have expect Natsu to actually return with a girlfriend, except for an extremely drunk and loopy Lisanna.

* * *

**Normally I don't put anything down here, but I wanted to point out that a dragon's brain would be extremely stupid, even though that's where emotions are. So dragon's heart works better in this case. (Referring to his All the Qualities of a Dragon speech.)**

**Also, there will be no love triangle between Natsu, Lucy and Lisanna. (It'd be too late anyways, since I mean Natsu already has a mate). She's not going to appear much in this story and she is definitely not going to get in the way of Natsu and Lucy's relationship. She will provide some humor though.**


	13. Chapter 13: Presents are Opened

**Okay, sorry for the break. Seriously, this has to be the longest one yet. I just didn't have much time. But, Chapter 13 is here. And we're almost out of the non-magic world. Isn't that weird? Already 13 chapters in and Natsu is still trying to bring Lucy back. Author's Notes on the top means no spoilers for the chapter. Sorry, but if there's content related stuff and it's urgent, I'll put it at the bottom, otherwise no.**

**And I don't know about you, but having them basically agree to stay together forever after three weeks was too fast. But still, it's sorta essential to the storyline, so I needed it to be done. In future stories however, I'll definitely wait longer than three weeks. Their relationship status stuff will be cleared up in this chapter, so I guess that's that. Either way, Natsu and Lucy are together forever. The way it should be.**

* * *

It was now Christmas Eve and Natsu and Lucy were currently spending time together in their (really Lucy's) apartment. Natsu hasn't been to his in the longest time, preferring to stay at Lucy's, which Lucy didn't mind that much. In fact, Lucy enjoyed the company enough to invite him over a few times. Although it surprised the dragon slayer, he was content nonetheless about visiting his mate.

It was late at night, almost time for them to go to bed. They had spent yet another day together having fun and talking about random things that the both of them were extremely tired. When they got back to the apartment, Natsu ran to the couch and jumped on it, and as he stared at the ceiling, he began to think about going back home permanently. While he was thinking, the room was extremely quiet, neither of them saying anything. They were both really tired.

"Say Lucy, when do you think we should go back to Fairy Tail?" Natsu asked, breaking the silence.

"Umm, I don't know. Probably on or after New Year's Day though. I want to celebrate it here, one last time." Lucy said.

"You make it sound like a permanent goodbye. It's not like we'll be prevented from ever returning though." Natsu said.

"Yeah, but please, I want to stay here for New Years. I don't plan on returning here later because there's no one I'm going to miss." Lucy said.

"Alright, we can stay. Though only until New Years, then we're going home, okay? The people back at Fairy Tail miss me and I'm sure they can't wait to meet you!" Natsu said with a bit of longing for his home.

"But what if they don't like me though?" Lucy asked nervously.

"They won't like you! They'll love you Lucy!" Natsu said confidently.

"If you say so." Lucy said smiling at Natsu's enthusiasm.

"Hey we should probably go to bed. It's getting pretty late." Lucy said.

"Alright fine. I'll be there in a minute."

Lucy got into her bed, followed by a pink haired dragon slayer. She didn't bother complaining about it now that they were what he called 'mates'. She still didn't know all the things about it, other than that she was bound to him forever. Though she thought she was hasty in the decision, she didn't doubt that she and Natsu were meant for each other. Thinking about their future home, Lucy drifted off to sleep.

When Natsu realized Lucy was asleep he got out of bed and headed for the door...

* * *

When Lucy woke up, she was in the arms of her loving dragon slayer. Natsu was dead asleep, breathing down Lucy's neck. The action sent shivers down her body, but she found herself enjoying it. Soon enough, Natsu woke up too.

"I'm sleepy Lucy. Do we have to wake up now?" Natsu asked, nearly begging Lucy for sleep.

"Oh come on! It's 9:30 in the morning and we went to bed at 11:00 last night! That's plenty of sleep." Lucy argued.

Natsu grumbled a few things about not being asleep the whole time while Lucy walked out of the bedroom. When she looked at the tree, she was in shock. Her reaction only made Natsu smile while he put an arm on Lucy's shoulder.

"N-Natsu? W-what's all this?" She asked.

"Umm, your Christmas presents." Natsu said bluntly.

"All of them? You bought all of these?" Lucy asked.

"Actually, I didn't. They're from people in the guild." Natsu answered.

"The g-guild? B-but how'd they know about me. I haven't been there once!" Lucy said.

"Yeah well I told them all about you. And they said they were eager to meet you!" Natsu said happily.

"When'd you meet them though? Weren't you here the whole time?" Lucy asked curiously.

"A few days ago when you were asleep, I snuck away to the guild to tell them I was okay, and to tell them to get you presents." Natsu answered.

"You told them to get me presents!?" Lucy shouted, surprised. She didn't want people to feel inclined to get her gifts.

"Well yeah! They're your family. And a family would be terrible if they didn't get each other gifts!" Natsu said defensively.

"But how, how'd you get them here?" Lucy asked again.

"It's a long story." Natsu answered, before he began to explain.

* * *

_Flashback_

_Natsu had stayed awake a little longer than Lucy so that she'd go to sleep. Today was December 19th, so Natsu had four more days to get Lucy a gift. He thought a while about what Lucy might like. Then it hit him. Why not get the entire guild to give her presents? She's always wanted friends so it'd be a great way for him to help._

_He got up that night, and walked to his apartment. He was seriously hoping that when he got to the portal that it would open without Lucy needing to be there. Thankfully, he was in luck and it did open. Once he got back to his world, he made a straight dash to the guild. They seemed to be having some sort of discussion. Natsu listened in._

_"Okay, Gray you look in this area for Natsu." Erza directed, pointing to a map on the wall._

_"Levy, you'll be responsible for the downtown area." Erza said pointing to Levy._

_"Happy, I want you and Lily to search near the valley." Erza said again._

_"And you!" She said, pointing to Natsu who had just revealed himself. "I want you to..." She said, trailing off before realizing it was him._

_"NATSU," she screamed, happy to see him again._

_"E-erza?" Natsu said in shock, scared she might punish him._

_"I'm so glad you're back. But where were you? And why'd you leave without notice!" Erza said. "You had everyone worried sick!"_

_"I can explain that." Makarov said, interrupting the conversation. "You see, I sent the boy on a mission. Well, he didn't know he was on one. It looks as though he failed it, since he didn't bring the girl back."_

_"Oh you mean Lucy?" Natsu said casually._

_"Lucy?" Makarov questioned._

_"Yeah, the girl you wanted me to find. What about her?" Natsu asked._

_"You were supposed to bring her back! You idiot!" Makarov shouted at Natsu._

_"Well I'm not going to yet. Actually, I came back because I wanted you to do me a favor." Natsu said, turning to the guild, who was completely focused on Natsu._

_"What's that?" Makarov asked._

_"Well you see, they have this holiday and you give people gifts. So I was wondering if you could give Lucy some gifts. She won't mind much. She'd probably just be happy you put thought into it."_

_"We need to know her before we give her gifts though." Erza said._

_"Alright then, I'll explain." said Natsu. Natsu went on to describe all the things that Lucy enjoyed and didn't enjoy, including her interests and her disinterests, her hobbies, her favorites, and her dreams. The whole guild was astounded that Natsu knew so much about a person. He never really learned much about anyone, especially not the enemy. He often mixed up names because he didn't really care._

_"Wow Natsu, you sure know a lot about her." Gray observed._

_"No shit Gray, Salamander basically gave us a damn biography on this bunny-girl." Gajeel said._

_"Just because she likes bunnies doesn't make her a 'bunny girl'__, Gajeel..." Gray said, rolling his eyes._

_"Of course it does, besides I need something to call her." Gajeel said._

_"You could call her Lucy... Kinda like how you call me Gray." Gray deadpanned._

_"Yeah but Natsu already took all the good nicknames, that's why you're just plain old shitty Gray." Gajeel retorted._

_"You trying to start something?" Gray said angrily._

_"Only if you want an express to the infirmary." Gajeel said._

_"Guys, guys, come on. You gotta get them before the 24th. I'll be here the 25th to pick them up." Natsu intervened. It was probably the first time in Fairy Tail history that Natsu broke up the fight instead of adding onto it._

_"Jeez Salamander, we get bunny-girl a gift before the 24th. Yeah yeah yeah. Whatever." Gajeel said uninterested._

_"You better not get her shit or some metal, Gajeel. You know it's gotta be something decent." Natsu growled back._

_"Fine, fine. I'll get her something decent. Just stop bitching." Gajeel said, just as bored._

_"I think it's nice that Natsu's trying to get his friend a surprise. It's rather thoughtful." Erza complimented. "So YOU TWO better not screw this up, or there will be hell to pay. UNDERSTOOD?" Both boys gulped as Erza lowered her sword at Gray, attempting to attack him first._

_"Yo Erza, it was just Gajeel man. Gray didn't do shit." Natsu said, defending Gray and shocking the guild. Natsu defending Gray... Something that hasn't happened in the longest time._

_"Alright then Gajeel, it's just you against me." Erza glared._

_"Thanks Natsu." Gray said before whispering, "Yo dude why'd you bail me. I know you weren't doing it out of the kindness of your heart." Natsu carefully whispered back, "Because I want her to get some good things, and I trust that you will. If Erza went after Gajeel, he'd pound in the lesson twice as hard," to which Gray just nodded and thanked Natsu again._

_A little while after Gajeel got pummeled in by Erza, Natsu went to sit at the bar. The way he was sitting, he was facing the barstool to the left of him, with his right arm on the bar. He stared off into nothing before Mira spoke up._

_"Hey Natsu you and this Lucy girl sound so cute. You have to have feelings for her. Oh my God! I'm going to make you another couple, and you're going to go on romantic dates and say cheesy things and get married and make me a godmother and I'm have thirty children and and and..." Mira completely lost in her own world, didn't notice the mate mark on his arm until she finished her speech. At which point she said, "Natsu? What's that?", pointing to the mate mark on his wrist._

_"No way, did Salamander get his mate. How the hell!?" Gajeel said frustratedly, while appearing out of nowhere._

_"M-mate?" Mira asked, confused._

_"You know? A dragon's life partner. Basically his wife." Gajeel said, as if it was the simplest thing ever._

_"W-wife? Who's your wife? Is it L-Lucy?" Mira asked surprised. Three weeks gone and Natsu has a wife._

_"Yeah it's Lucy, and we think of each other as more of fiancé/fiancée than married. More of like a we're going to have a wedding but we've already agreed to stay with each other forever."_

_"YES! OH MY GOD YES! I LOVE YOU SO MUCH NATSU! TELL LUCY I LOVE HER TOO! THANKS SO MUCH!" Lisanna said running to Natsu, throwing him into a bone-crushing hug. "OH MY GOD THANK YOU SO MUCH! THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU! I CAN'T BELIEVE THIS HAPPENED! SUCK IT EVERYONE! I WON THE BET AND NOW I'M RICH! I DON'T HAVE TO TAKE A JOB FOR TEN YEARS! FORK IT OVER EVERYONE, I JUST MADE MILLIONS!" Lisanna screamed to everyone._

_...and just like that... the whole guild was depressed. The mood just tanked. Unbelievably quickly. Why you ask? Because everyone except for Mira and Elfman lost 200,000 Jewels to Lisanna._

_"I can't believe this. I can't. I'm rich. So much money. You guys should never mess with drunk Lisanna 'cause she knows all." Lisanna said. "I'm going to buy Lucy the best present ever as a thank-you for making me rich." She said to Natsu._

_From that day on, nobody made a bet against Lisanna ever again, especially not when she was drunk._

* * *

"You're telling me that the whole guild made a bet to see if you would have a girlfriend? And no one bet in favor of you? Jeez that's harsh." Lucy said compassionately.

"Eh whatever. I don't think anyone else has seen this side of me too much though. Only in desperate situations, but most people overlook it. They knew I care about my guild mates with all my life but they don't know that when I'm calm I can care too. They think I'm an idiot over there." Natsu said a little downcast.

"Aww... Come on I'm sure you're not a total idiot." Lucy said sympathetically. "It's not like they thought you didn't know what love was."

"They did think I knew nothing about love. Everyone except for Lisanna. She and her older sister taught me all about love when I was younger. I never really paid attention because I thought it was stupid, but I knew what it was and how to do show affection." Natsu explained.

"Haha wow. So you're saying that so basically everyone lost 200,000 Jewels, which I'm guessing is a lot, to Lisanna?" Lucy asked.

"Yeah, nobody knew never to bet against a drunk Lisanna. She has crazy enlightenments when she's drunk. She hasn't lost a bet while she was drunk yet." Natsu explained.

"Wow, that's insane. Thanks for warning me. No way I'm betting against her." Lucy said.

"I don't think anyone will after what happened with the last bet." Natsu said.

"Well she said she got me something nice, so I'm excited to see what's inside!" Lucy exclaimed, walking over to the gifts.

"Alright this is the first one..." Lucy said, "from Er-za, Erza? That's how you say it right?" Seeing the nod from Natsu, she opened up the gift and saw a sword. A sharp one at that! It was real. On the sword was a note that read: "_Dear Lucy, Congrats on your relationship with Natsu. Please tell me if he hurts you so that I can punish him so hard that he'll be barely able to walk if he's lucky. Merry Christmas, from Erza." _When she looked at Natsu confused, all he said was, "Erza uses re-quip magic. It lets her switch her armor and weapons out on command."

"Ooooh! This one is blue! I'm going to open this one next." Lucy said excitedly. When she opened it, it was an ice sculpture of the guild hall. It was cold, but it didn't seem to be melting anywhere even though the apartment was 40 degrees (Fahrenheit) above the freezing point of water. There was a note attached that read, _Dear Lucy, from what that idiot fire head said, you seem like a nice person. So I got you a frozen statue of the guild hall. My magic, Ice-Make, lets me make any inanimate objects out of ice and the one you have there is permanently frozen. Merry Christmas, Gray. _She looked at the note and saw the P.S. at the bottom that read, _also please don't tell a girl named Juvia I got you a gift. She'll freak out and declare you a love rival even if you're engaged to Natsu. Also tell him thanks again for helping me out with Erza the other night. He seriously got me outta some deep shit. Gajeel broke his right arm and left leg. Thankfully Wendy was there to patch him up._

"That one over there! I'm gonna grab that one!" Lucy said excitedly as she picked up a gift wrapped in yellow. When she picked it up, she noticed it was unbearably heavy. When she opened it, she found tons of brand new books, fairy tales to be specific, from Earthland. The note left on top of it read, _Hey there Lu, Natsu told me you liked reading books, especially fairy tales. I absolutely love reading, so I can't wait to meet someone else who shares such an interest. I'm a solid-script mage, but I'll show you more once you meet us. Can't wait to see you, enjoy your fiancé. Merry Christmas, Levy._ She took a few books out, eyes widened. They were completely new stories from the ones she had read in the past. It was like a whole new adventure, it was indeed a whole new world of books to explore. New authors and new stories excited her and now she had an entire civilization's worth to explore. She had always loved reading as a kid, ever since she found her father's library. She didn't have much to do and her father never let her leave the house so she spent most of her time reading. She read almost every single book in the library before she decided to run away.

Lucy opened even more gifts. Though the variety of gifts was indeed large, the heartwarming messages in each of them were very similar. Each message described how they were looking forward to getting to meet her, and each spoke of her as family. It was truly a loving sight to behold. She couldn't wait to actually meet them so she could personally thank them.

In one of the last two presents under the tree, Lucy found something extraordinary. When she opened it, she found two bracelets, both white with a message left behind. They weren't cheap at all, and even though fancy things were nothing special for Lucy, it made her smile so much. It was the note that said everything, the note that made her smile. _Dear Lucy and Natsu, Merry Christmas. I hope the two of you enjoy your new relationship. For you guys, I bought these bracelets. They are two of a kind and are designed to be worn by lovers. Every time you see this bracelet, it should remind you of your significant other. Best wishes, Lisanna._ She took out the two bracelets and gave one to Natsu, who happily complied, seeing as though it wasn't girly like he had originally feared.

When Lucy got to the last present, she was expecting something from one of the guild members, not from this person. The giver of this gift actually did happen to be in this room, in fact it was Natsu. She was surprised he actually got her something considering he got all his friends to give her things. But he had gotten her a present himself._  
_

"N-natsu, you didn't have to get me anything yourself. Having the guild get me presents more than I could have asked for." Lucy said.

"But it wasn't me giving you those gifts. It was them. They agreed wholeheartedly without bribing." Natsu responded.

"Okay then." She smiled while saying, "I'm going to open it then." As she unwrapped the gift and opened the box it was in, she saw a set of strange looking keys, potentially made out of gold. She saw some silver ones too, but she didn't know what the difference was. She actually was confused about what was in this box.

"Hey Natsu, I don't mean to be rude, but what are these?" Lucy asked.

"Well you weirdo, didn't you read the note. It's only right there." He said, pointing to the note.

_Hey Lucy, you're probably wondering just what the heck these keys are. They're a special form of magic, known as Celestial Spirit Magic. That night you took me to see the stars and told me about your mother being an astronomer made me realize that you should definitely be a celestial mage. Well weirdo, you gotta make these contracts or something with spirit guys. Then they help you by fighting with you. I don't really know how it works so we'll probably hold onto them until we go back home and someone there can teach you. Though each of them were excited to meet you. So I'm sure you'll be a great friend. Merry Christmas, and much love, Natsu._

"N-natsu, so you mean? I can be a mage? For real?" Lucy said excitedly.

"Of course Lucy! And you and I are going to be on a team! We'll be super awesome. Of course Happy will be on it too because he and I do everything together really." Natsu said smiling. "And we'll take jobs and we can use our magic to successfully do requests. We'd live together and make money together and since we'd live together we'd have shared expenses and it'd be so much fun!" He was basically daydreaming at this point.

"That sounds great Natsu." Lucy said smiling. "But how are we going to get these celestial spirits summoned so I can make contracts?"

"Actually, that I don't know. What I do know is that there are ten zodiac keys there, in all there are twelve, but the guild only had ten. After I explained your love for stars, Gramps was totally chill about letting me have them, so here you go. The silver ones are more common, but they're also pretty useful."

"Thank you so much Natsu." She said hugging him. But then she realized she didn't have a gift for him so she felt really bad. Natsu noticed his mate's sadness so he asked her what was wrong.

"What's wrong, Lucy? Aren't you happy I got you these things?"

"Of course you idiot! But..." she trailed off and said in almost a whisper, "I didn't get you anything, because you were around me all the time. I'm so sorry Natsu." At which point Natsu began to laugh really loudly.

"You thought I expected you to get me something? If I did then I wouldn't have been around you all the time all day. Plus you agreed to stay with me forever, after knowing me for only three weeks. That's more than I could ever ask for Lucy!" Natsu said smiling.

"Oh, okay then Natsu. I'll guess I'll just make it up to you by doing this." She said smiling before pulling him into a sweet and passionate filled kiss.

* * *

_Flashback (basically a continuation from above)_

_Natsu had just gotten up from the bar. He walked over to the door before a great idea struck his mind. "HEY GUYS!" he screamed. "I GOT AN IDEA! Why don't you get Lucy something related to your magic! She'd love that!" He said cheerfully. Everyone couldn't help but agree that it was a great idea. So they began to get to work getting presents._

_"Alright guys, I'll be back soon. When I come back on the 24th to pick up the presents, I'll tell you when I should be back for good. It shouldn't be more than two weeks." He said. People again gave him some goodbyes, before he left out the front doors._

_"Doesn't that idiot know we celebrate Christmas here too?" Gray asked._

_"He'll figure that out eventually." Mira said while looking to the door._


	14. Chapter 14: Party Getaways

**Wow, last two chapters happened to be the longest two, and yet they were very uneventful. I guess you could say that. But nonetheless, escalation begins again! Not huge escalation like the climax or something of the story, but it's escalation! I hope you enjoyed this story so far, and I hope that I can continue to write some decent stuff.**

**Oh and, just a heads up, the story will continue on for a good while AFTER they get back to Earthland. Remember all those things in Chapter 1 and 2 that you haven't seen mentioned since? Well they're going to start coming back, (not in this chapter but in the upcoming ones) especially once they get back to Earthland.**

**Here's to a 14th Chapter! (Never thought I'd make it here).**

* * *

December 30, X784. It was almost the new year and festivities were in arrangement. In fact, Sting had just called Natsu to let him know about the party he was throwing for New Year's. Natsu agreed, telling Sting that he'd be there (with Lucy of course).

Of course, being a party, Lucy felt the urge to get a good dress, considering she hadn't been to a party before. Sure she had those upper class fancy parties, but those were an entirely different thing compared to the one she was about to go to. She was nervous, but relieved that she had Natsu to be with. She didn't think to fear anything when he was around. She felt safe and protected.

Natsu being the good-hearted person he was, decided he'd go shopping _yet again_ with Lucy for her dress. He figured he might as well get some food out of the trip so it wasn't going to be a complete waste. Lucy always got him something to eat when she took him shopping. He wasn't sure if it was an act of pity or just her thanking him for coming, but he assumed it was a little bit of both.

When they had gotten back, Natsu went to sit on the couch to think about the party. He wasn't sure what had him on edge, but he figured it'd probably be the rowdiness and that he'd be afraid of losing sight of Lucy. So he figured he might as well teach her the magical spell that Laxus used to share his lightning powers with her.

"Hey Lucy can you come here for a second?" Natsu called for Lucy.

"Yeah, sure. What do you need Natsu?" Lucy asked, walking over to Natsu.

"You remember how I told you how I got my lightning flame dragon mode, right?" Natsu asked.

"Yeah that night there was a thunderstorm? What about it?" Lucy asked.

"Well I want to teach it to you so if I'm in an emergency I can let you use it." Natsu said simply

"W-what? You want me to use lightning dragon slayer magic?" She asked, dumbfounded.

"It's only temporary, unless of course I use ALL my magic power. But it'll last about a day or two if I only use a portion of my magic power." Natsu explained.

"A-alright. Though I am still afraid of thunder and lightning, you know." Lucy said.

"Don't worry, it's only temporary. Besides, it's _your_ lightning, so it's not like you have anything to fear." Natsu said.

"Fine, I guess since I can't use my celestial magic yet, I might as well use your lightning spell just in case." Lucy said.

"Great. Well I'll give it to you later at the party if we need it. Okay?" Natsu said.

"Sure. Speaking of the party, do you think my dress looks fine."

"You'll look beautiful Lucy. Maybe even a little too beautiful." Natsu said, mumbling the last part.

Lucy had picked out a light blue dress that was strapless, although it didn't expose too much. The dress was about knee length and certainly showed off Lucy's curves.

* * *

The next day was the thirty-first. It was the last day Natsu planned on staying in Magnolia, Earth. But he was still going to the party. He was going to say goodbye to Sting for the last time, explain to him that he was going to a faraway land and most likely wouldn't be back for a long time. He formulated a speech and a complex lie to explain why he wouldn't see Sting for a long time, if ever. He was going to miss Sting. If Natsu wasn't with Lucy, he was with Sting. Sting was his best friend next to Gray. He was close with Natsu, some even swore they were long-lost brothers.

Natsu was waiting for Lucy to put on her dress, and then the two would leave. The party was at Sting's house, if you could call it a house. It was a huge mansion, and Lucy even was surprised to say it was larger than the one she used to live in. When they got there, Sting opened the door and greeted them.

"Wow Sting, your house is huge! You never told me you were loaded!" Natsu exclaimed.

"That's because it's not my house. It's the Orland's. I hate them with a burning passion, and they went away for Christmas and New Year's, so I decided to throw a party at their house." Sting said.

"Wow. You're evil." Natsu said.

"Haha yeah. But anyways, enjoy yourselves. I won't have to clean this stuff up so don't worry! Go wild!" Sting cheered before disappearing into the crowd. Natsu took Lucy's hand and guided them to the dance floor. As the two started to dance, Lucy asked something that had been on her mind since Natsu talked to Sting.

"Hey Natsu, you sure it's okay that Sting is throwing a party at someone else's house?" Lucy asked.

"Well I know Sting, and Sting's a genius. He knows what he's doing so we'll be fine. Why don't you just enjoy yourself like he said. Don't worry, nothing is going to happen. Even if something did, I'll be there." Natsu said.

"Yeah, okay Natsu." She smiled while saying.

The two danced some more, dancing so long that their feet began to feel sore. Natsu and Lucy walked over to the food table, and Natsu grabbed as much as he could. They sat down and began to eat.

"You enjoying the party?" Natsu asked curiously.

"Yeah it's fun. It's definitely great for a first party." Lucy said raising a cup of punch.

"I wouldn't drink that if I were you Lucy. I guarantee that that punch is spiked." Natsu said.

"Oh whatever." She said smirking before downing the whole cup. "You were right Natsu. It _is_ spiked."

"Yeah I spiked it myself." Sting said proudly, intruding their conversation.

"Let me guess, you used Jiemma's alcohol too?" Lucy asked.

"Of course I did Lucy. No way was I going to buy my own." Sting said bluntly.

"So Sting, it's been a while. Do you have any family?" Lucy asked. Sting looked down, silently. He tried to speak but the words would not come out of his mouth.

"No, he doesn't. His parents were killed in a car crash last year." Natsu answered for Sting, solemnly.

"Oh. Sorry for asking." Lucy said, feeling a little guilty she asked.

"No probs Lucy! You're supposed to have fun at my party. So you shouldn't be moping. Besides, Rogue and I are doing just fine. We managed to get an apartment and live together. One rent for two people is definitely better than one rent for just me." Sting said cheerfully, as if his parents were never mentioned.

"Alright then. I'll enjoy myself." Lucy said smiling, guilt disappearing entirely.

"Yeah you should. I still owe your boyfriend for beating up Dan. I made hundreds off that bet. So live a little." Sting said cheerfully.

"You bet hundreds on me?" Natsu asked.

"Of course I did. I knew for sure you were gonna win. Dan's not much a fighter anyways, but his great reputation is what got me a lot of offers. I walked away that day with like $900 thanks to you." Sting said.

"Wow you really know how to take advantage of fights, don't you Sting?" Natsu said surprised.

"Yep. I haven't lost a bet yet when it comes to fighting." Sting answered proudly.

Surprised that his friend put so much faith in him, he couldn't help but smile. He took Lucy's hand again and led them back to the dance floor. They spent more time partying, eating, and having some of the spiked punch, but not too much. It was almost midnight by now, and the party wasn't going to end anytime soon.

"Hey guys!" Sting shouted into the microphone. Everybody's attention turned towards Sting. "We're here to celebrate NEW YEAR'S! And right now it's 11:59! How about we have a huge countdown. I want it to be loud!" Sting said, enjoying himself more and more.

Natsu and Lucy looked up at the projection on the wall, both equally surprised that a projector would be in this room of all rooms. But nonetheless, there was 30 seconds until it was the new year.

_5..._

"Come on Lucy, it's almost New Year's!" Natsu said excitedly.

_4..._

_3..._

_2..._

_1..._

Before Natsu had a chance to say Happy New Year's to Lucy, she had pulled him into a New Year's kiss. When they finally broke free, they noticed that there were a bunch of people looking at them, because they had kissed longer than anyone else. Of course, Natsu and Lucy had no idea, being completely lost in the kiss, so they were embarrassed when they saw people looking in their direction. They didn't notice the time read 12:04.

"Hey New Year's Lucy!" Natsu cheered.

"You too Natsu" She said smiling.

The party was even louder for the next thirty minutes. It seemed that since it was now X785, everyone was a lot more cheerful. The party got louder and louder. People were going absolutely crazy. Natsu and Lucy were in the middle of it all, having more fun than they thought they would.

At 12:34 in the morning, Sting looked out the front of the window. What he saw made his eyes widen. There were police. Police everywhere. And worst of all, the Orlands, Minerva and Jiemma were there too. He was in deep shit.

"OH SHIT! PARTY IS OVER. THE COPS ARE HERE!" Sting screamed into the microphone. Lots of screams ensued as people ran out of the mansion, jumping through windows and out doors. Natsu and Lucy met up with Sting and Rogue and they ran out the back door. As soon as they got there, there was a police car waiting for the four of them. Next to it were the Orlands.

"So Sting," Minerva said, stepping forward. "I heard you were in charge of this party at _my _house."

"Actually yeah, it was me. Something wrong with that?" Sting asked, well knowing that there was a lot wrong with it.

"Well for one, this isn't your house. Secondly, you made a mess. I expect you to clean it up. Third, you had alcohol here, and last I checked you were underage. The way it looks to me, you're in a lot of trouble." Minerva said.

"As if. You think I'd work for you. In case you didn't know, I absolutely despise your family. So don't think I'm going to do anything to help you out." Sting answered with an angry look on his face.

"Oh yeah? You want the cops to deal with you? Either way you'll be spending some time in jail. I just thought I might knock off some time." Minerva said.

Natsu looked over to Lucy giving her a look that she fully understood. He turned to Sting and Rogue and asked them, "Do you guys care if you left here and didn't come back?"

"Not particularly, since we're in trouble." Rogue answered.

"Same here." Sting added.

"Alright then guys, let's go. I know the perfect place." Natsu said.

"Where do you think you're going?" One of the police officers asked.

"Umm... Home? Where else would I be going at this late of an hour?" Natsu asked as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"You can't leave. You're under arrest for breaking and entering, throwing a party at someone else's house, and underage drinking." The man said.

"Oh yeah, and who are you to stop me?" Natsu taunted.

"A police officer from the Magnolia Police Department." He answered.

"Tch. Whatever let's go." Natsu said.

"Take another step and I shoot you." The man said. Natsu turned his head towards him, smirked, and took another step while still looking at him. The police officer fired a bullet at him that was sent directly towards Natsu's mouth. However, when Natsu saw it coming, he lit his inner mouth on fire, so hot to even melt metal. The bullet melted in his mouth, causing metal to go down his throat. Natsu started coughing heavily, trying to get the bullet out. When he finally did, people just stood there in shock.

"Holy shit dude!" Natsu screamed. "Shooting someone in the mouth could hurt them!" Lucy sweatdropped.

"Normally that kills people you big idiot." Lucy said pounding him on the back of the head.

"Ow Lucy, what was that for?" He asked.

"For making me worry that you were going to die, you big idiot!" She exclaimed.

"Ahem." The police officer cleared his throat, trying to hide his fear. "W-Who are you?"

"Do you believe in Dragons?" Natsu asked.

"Wha-what?" The officer said.

"I asked you, do you believe in dragons?" Natsu said again.

"N-no of course not. They're obviously not real." He said, scared.

"Oh yeah?" Natsu challenged. "Well you're about to feel the intensity of a dragon's roar." After he said that, he quickly released a Fire Dragon's Roar on the police officer. Completely charred, the man fell backwards.

"Come on guys, let's get in the police car. We've gotta get to the portal!" Natsu screamed to Sting and Rogue while he was running towards the car with Lucy. Sting and Rogue snapped out of their dazes and ran towards the car. Natsu got in and started the car. They quickly got on the nearest entrance ramp to the highway.

"I thought you had motion sickness Natsu." Lucy noted.

"Me too. Probably something about your world that doesn't cause me to get motion sickness a lot." Natsu answered.

"Okay well let's get back to the apartment before more cops follow us." Natsu said.

"Sting, Rogue, you hanging in there okay?" Natsu asked.

"Y-yeah we're good." They said in unision.

"Alright well I'm going to take you somewhere unlike you've ever been. You sure you want to go? You'll probably not return here for the longest time." Natsu warned them.

"Well..." Sting began, "Either go there or jail time. And I'm not gonna looking at a bright future with jail time on my record."

"I agree with Sting. We can't stay here because they'll come after us. I'm assuming you're going to take us somewhere that we can lose the police from." Rogue said.

"Alright it's settled then. You're coming with us to Ear-" Natsu began to say until he was cut off by blaring sirens from a car behind him. Natsu growled in annoyance before he rolled down the window and stuck his head out. Aiming at the car behind him, he screamed:

"Fire Dragon's ROAR." Natsu sent a beam of fire spewing out from his mouth, colliding with the car behind him which ended up spinning out. He smirked as he saw the car hit a pole on the side of the road. His mission was successful. He could ge-

"Natsu look out!" Lucy shrieked. Natsu quickly snapped his head forward and saw the pole. He quickly turned left to avoid it, cutting it so close that the right rear-view mirror broke. Natsu recovered from almost hitting the pole and got back on the road towards his apartment. He picked up his speed again, driving down the road which was thankfully empty at this empty hour. Behind him were several blaring police cars.

"Jeez Natsu you're definitely a reckless driver. How can you drive like this if you get motion sickness?" Lucy asked.

"It's a long story." Natsu answered.

"Hey guys, I think they're gaining on us." Sting observed.

"Alright well we're just going to have to lose them. Sting come up here and take the wheel. I'm going on top of the car." Natsu instructed. Sting moved to the front of the car, while Natsu got out from the side window. He was cursing out the car for not having a sunroof. When he got to the top he saw a V-formation of police cars chasing him. He turned around, now facing in the direction he was going and saw another V-formation of cars.

"Sting, I'm gonna need you to slam on the gas pedal! I'm about to roar in the opposite direction and we'll lose a bunch of speed. I'm going to try to take out a car in the formation in front of us. I want you to drive through it as soon as I do." Natsu commanded. Sting responded by saying that he would and he floored it. The car picked up speed until Natsu let out a strong Fire Dragon's Roar on the front car that was blocking their path. As soon as it was blown out of the way, Natsu turned around and blew fire in the opposite direction. The car, which had gone from 100 to 40 in a matter of seconds, regained the 60mph after the second roar.

"Alright Sting, drive off the exit ramp here." Natsu instructed.

"19? Okay. I'm going off now." Sting informed.

"Alright well my apartment is pretty close to Lucy's so we'll have to stop there first. I'm not sure where this portal will put us out so we'll need all the stuff we can get." Natsu said.

"Okay!" Sting said while turning right. "Where's the apartment?"

"Just down this road and on the left." Natsu answered.

"This one?" Sting asked, pointing to the apartment five buildings away.

"Yep. Just park the car here so they don't swarm us. It'll only be a matter of minutes before they catch on to us again." Natsu instructed. Sting parked the car and everyone got out. Natsu informed Lucy, "Let's get the stuff we packed earlier, okay? Be quick though. If there's anything else you want from in here, it's now or never." Then Natsu turned to Sting and Rogue. "Just wait inside, but don't get comfortable. We've gotta get moving again soon."

The three did as they were told, Natsu grabbing Lucy's stuff even though they said that they were both going to grab it. They got back to the door, the four snuck out and looked to their right, noticing all of the cops surrounding the car. One of them looked up as the four were walking and said, "You there! Stop now!" The four, being spotted, picked up speed and began to run. They ran all the way to Natsu's house, and they quickly found the portal. They locked the door shut and headed towards the pedestal the portal was situated on.

"Okay guys, this is now or never. You already to go?" Natsu asked. He received three nods. "We most likely won't be back for a while, if ever. It seems we've become outlaws here. Either way we'll definitely fit into where we're going." Natsu explained. "Okay then." There was a pause.

"Open Gateway to Earthland!" Natsu shouted. A portal started forming, slowly expanding from the center.

"Open up! This is the police. You're surrounded!" A shout was heard from the door.

"Alright guys this is it. Let's go." Natsu said. The four, hand-in-hand, jumped into the portal. The police broke down the door right as they saw the portal vanish. They were too late. They'd never catch the mysterious fire breather who showed up on New Year's Day.


	15. Chapter 15: Welcome to Fairy Tail!

**I'm sorry about the past chapters being few and far between. Really, I sincerely apologize. Actually the problem with the first break was that I had no idea what to write after they returned home, so I was subconsciously hesitant to continue on writing. The second week was due to issues relating to busy weeks. Only had about 3 hours to use my computer per day because of my schedule and it was usually after being dead tired.**

**I'm actually thinking of changing the picture. That original one is just a placeholder for something else that I probably won't get around to for a while. I may finish the story before updating the cover image. Nonetheless I'll get something at least a little nicer. Something with at least a title on it. (Don't expect something fancy)**

**And lastly, thanks for the motivation. I'm definitely going to keep up with the story. Here's Chapter 15.**

* * *

In the center of Magnolia is a large tree that many people often come to visit. But by now, three in the morning, most people are asleep. That is, except for the four people traveling between worlds. A bright flash of light appears and expands around the great tree. In a matter of seconds, Sting, Rogue, Natsu, and Lucy appear from thin air.

"Okay Natsu, now what? And where are we? Can you explain why you're a fire professional now?" Sting asked.

"It's called Dragon Slayer Magic. I'm a Fire Dragon Slayer, so I use Fire Dragon Slayer Magic. Also, we're in an a different place, known as Earthland. It's like an entirely different world, but no one else knows about Earth, so you'll sound crazy if you talk about it. We're going to go to the Fairy Tail guild to enlist Lucy and hopefully get a situation figured out for you two." Natsu said.

"So what's this guild thing you're bringing me to?" Sting asked.

"It's a place where people come together to do jobs for the community. Natsu says that his guild is basically his family, so the people who are there must be really close to each other." Lucy explained.

"Yeah she's pretty much right." Natsu confirmed.

The four of them walked up to the Fairy Tail guild hall, impressing the three who had never seen it before. Inside was an almost empty guild hall, aside from the Strauss family. Mira, the oldest, saw the four walk in but didn't pay enough attention to notice Natsu was one of them. So when she went up to speak to them, she spoke as if they were visitors from elsewhere.

"Welcome to the Fairy Tail Guild! Is there so-" Mira began before she saw Natsu with the strangers. "Welcome back Natsu!" Mira said with a smile. "Oh and you must be Lucy. You and Natsu look so cute together! Your babies will be so adorable! Make me a godmother!" Mira squealed, causing Natsu and Lucy to sweatdrop.

"Jeez Mira, yes she's Lucy, my mate. Calm down we aren't having kids yet." Natsu said. "Also I came here so that you could make Lucy a member of Fairy Tail. She's eager to join and I think she'll fit right in."

"Okay. Well you know that means their is going to be a party tomorrow for a new member as important as yourself Lucy." Mira said.

"Me, important? Why would I be important?" Lucy asked curiously.

"Well duh! You're one of the most prominent guild member's soulmate, plus you use a rare celestial magic or so I've been told." Mira explained.

"Okay well then what do I do to become a member? I'm pretty excited to join this guild. Natsu talks about how awesome it is a lot." Lucy said.

"Easy, you just have to get a guild mark somewhere on your body. And yeah, choose a color too." Mira said.

"Umm, pink. On the back of my right hand please." Lucy said after a few minutes of thinking.

"Is that because Natsu's hair is pink?" Mira said playfully causing Lucy to blush without answering. She left for a few minutes before coming back to put the guild mark on her hand. When it was done she couldn't help but smile at the new excitement that was radiating off of Lucy. "There you go, now you're an official member of this guild! Welcome to the family." Mira said.

"Also do you know a place where these two could stay? To say the least they're not really welcome back at their hometown anymore." Natsu explained.

"We should have a few extra beds at the infirmary. Since nobody took a job because of New Year's we shouldn't have anyone in there. Surprisingly, people were rather good about their alcohol this year." Mira explained.

"Also where's Happy? I haven't seen him in a while and I really owe it to him." Natsu said a little saddened.

"He's at home waiting for you. He said he would have a fish for you and everything." Mira said sweetly.

"Do you have any here? I think Happy deserves a fish for waiting and all." Natsu asked.

"I should. Let me check in the Happy fridge." Mira said. The Happy fridge, as the name implies, is a fridge specifically for storing fish for Happy. "Yeah there are a few in here, would you like one?" Mira asked.

"Well yeah!" Natsu said.

Natsu grabbed the fish from Mira in his left hand and took Lucy's hand in his right. After saying good night, they walked to Natsu's home. Of course Lucy had no idea where he was going but trusted Natsu's judgement. She didn't think she'd have to worry if she was near him a lot.

"Lucy how does living with me sound?" Natsu asked.

"Absolutely wonderful. It'll be the three of us. You, me, and Happy. We'll go on adventures together! Doesn't it sound great?" Lucy said cheerfully.

"You know, we can start practicing your magic after breakfast tomorrow." Natsu said.

"Really? Thank you so much Natsu!" Lucy said cheerfully.

"Okay shhh. We're almost home. We just gotta stay quiet for a little bit. I don't want to wake him." Natsu whispered to Lucy. Then he and Lucy took quiet steps towards the front door and opened it. Natsu's house was actually clean, unlike how he had left it. He looked just as surprised as Lucy looked happy to know that she was going to be living in a normal house.

"NATSUUUU" Happy screamed happily while flying straight towards Natsu to hug him.

"Hey there happy, I missed you too buddy. It's okay though, I brought a fish."

"A FISH? FOR MEEEE?" Happy asked, well, happily.

"Who else loves fish as much as you?" Natsu asked while petting Happy.

"No one!" Happy said in between bites. After he finished his fish, he saw that Natsu wasn't actually alone. He had someone with him. A girl too. "Natsu, who's that?"

"That's Lucy! Remember what I said about dragon's mates. She's mine!" Natsu said cheerfully.

"You found one Natsu? I never would have thought you could." Happy said bluntly.

"Thanks for believing in me, buddy." Natsu said with a frown.

"Does that make her my new Mama?" Happy asked excitedly.

"Yes, you could say that." Natsu said.

"AYE SIR! I'm Happy, Lucy! Will you buy me fish?" Happy asked.

"Sure I can buy you fish." Lucy said.

"Aye! Natsu, she's okay by me!" Happy said.

"Can you only think about fish?" Natsu asked.

"I don't see you thinking about anything else besides your dragon's mate." Happy said.

"Shhh.. Happy don't tell anyone that. I thought we had a deal to keep it secret." Natsu said.

"Keep what a secret?" Lucy asked.

"Aye! Natsu spent half a year looking for his dragon's mate and came back with nothing. I thought the guy was doomed to be alone." Happy said while snickering.

"What's so bad about that? Not the alone part, but looking for a mate?" Lucy asked.

"Well, you see... Umm... How do I explain? The guild kinda thinks I'm dense. So I use it to my benefit. But if they found out that I actually was pretty smart, they'd start teasing me a whole lot more for some of the things I do. Especially if they found out about the searching for dragon's mate thing. They think I'm too dumb to be romantic at all since I've never shown interest in a girl. But I had to tell Happy, because nothing gets by him." Natsu said.

"Aye! But I won't spill if you give me fish!" Happy exclaimed.

"Well it's already late, we should go to bed. We've got a lot of introducing to do tomorrow! I bet they can't wait to meet you!" Natsu said cheerfully. Lucy got into bed and made herself comfortable on a half of the bed. **(A.N. I decided to give Natsu a bed back in Chapter 2. So yes, he has a bed. Plus Lucy would undoubtedly make him get one if he didn't.) **Natsu came in and slept next to Lucy, making sure to wrap his arms around her waist and pull her closer. Happy got into bed last, curling up into a ball on one of the pillows.

* * *

The next morning, or really afternoon because it was 12:30, the three woke up to the bright light emanating from the window. Happy got up out of bed first, and looked out the window next to the bed. Lucy was next, but she couldn't get up because she was pulled in by the strong arms of the dragon slayer. Groaning she turned to tried to turn in place to face Natsu so she could tell him to get up.

Pushing him, she said, "Natsu!" Frustrated, she said his name once more. No response from Natsu. As she was about to say his name third time, he quickly kissed her. A few minutes later when he pulled away he smirked saying, "Gotcha Lucy."

"Whatever Natsu, we can't sit around all day." Lucy huffed.

"Sure we can. I wouldn't mind spending the whole day lying down snuggled right up next to you." Natsu said.

"That's not the point! What I mean is we have to get to the guild!" Lucy said.

"Why? I wanna stay here." Natsu said while pouting.

"Why would you want to stay here?" Lucy asked curiously. "Last night you seemed excited. You said they'd love me there."

"That's the problem Lucy! They'll be so interested in you that I won't get any time for myself!" Natsu said causing Lucy to blush.

"Jeez Natsu. Don't worry I'll make sure to spend plenty of time with you at the guild today." Lucy said, causing Natsu's fears of not being able to spend time with her to ebb away.

"Alright then! Let's go to the guild. We can start practicing your magic today! I can't wait to see what it does!" Natsu said cheerfully.

"Wait you don't know what it does? I thought you said that you knew what magic it was." Lucy said surprised.

"I know it's celestial magic. I don't know what it does though. I asked Gramps for starry magic and he gave me the keys and said they were 'Gates of the Zodiac' or something." Natsu explained.

"Oh well then I guess it will be a surprise to the both of us!" Lucy exclaimed.

"Let's hurry up. I can't wait!" Natsu cheered.

The two of them headed out the door, with a sleepy Happy behind him. Happy yawned again, probably for the fourth time that morning.

"Happy you're really tired, why don't you take a nap?" Natsu asked.

"You really mean it? There? Are you sure? Last time you got mad at me." Happy asked.

"That was years ago! Besides Happy I owe you a bunch for looking out for the place while I'm gone. And you'd make a cool hat." Natsu said cheerfully.

"AYEE! Thank you so much Natsu!" Happy said before landing on Natsu's pink hair and falling asleep.

Curiously, Lucy asked, "Is that... difficult? Keeping him up there?"

Natsu smiled before replying, "Nope, the real difficulty is getting him off me. Last time he did it, I was fourteen and could not get him off my head for the life of me. He holds onto my hair in his sleep like it's a lifeline." A few seconds later they were back at the guild doors and Natsu saw Lucy tense. He could see how nervous she was to meet all of these new people.

"Don't worry Lucy," Natsu said, "They're awesome. Besides I won't let them get too close to you, you are mine after all!" Natsu said proudly while offering a bright smile that seemed to make all of her fears melt away. She smiled back before nodding and together they walked in, hand in hand.

"THERE SHE IS!" Mira shouted. "Oooooh! She's holding _Natsu's hand_. Isn't it so _cuuute_!" Mira sang happily.

"I admit, they do look pretty good together. I could definitely drink to that." Cana said.

"Isn't drinking in the morning for depressed people only?" Gray asked.

"I've only been drinking in the morning for three years now. Do I look depressed to you?" Cana asked.

"Guess not." Gray said before walking away, not knowing that it was towards Natsu and Lucy. When he got to them, he was honestly curious as to why someone would even go near Natsu.

"So you're fire-stick's girl? Seriously what kind of brainwashing did he do to convince you?" Gray asked.

Before Natsu had the chance to reply with an insult, Lucy answered, "He didn't brainwash me at all. Honestly Gray, you should know that he does have a sweet side to him."

"Wait..." Gray said confused, "How'd you know my name?"

"Well, Natsu used to tell me stories of his guild and he happened to tell me how you have the ability to uhh... lose your clothes." Lucy answered.

"So? I do sometimes. But what's that gotta do with knowing my name?" Gray asked, not getting it.

"Look down." was all Lucy said before Gray realized he had lost his shirt. Blurting a few curses, he left to go find it.

Natsu laughed at his mate's conversation with Gray. Surely he'd remember something like that forever. Lucy saw some people greet her. She found everyone to be overwhelmingly nice though a little confused how Natsu was able to get a girl like her. She didn't understand why until she remembered Natsu telling her that the guild thought he was an idiot. She giggled, realizing that they didn't know their Fire Dragon Slayer as well as she did. After about ten minutes of being asked questions about who she was and such, she went to sit down with Natsu at a table.

"So Natsu, how come they knew about everything I liked and didn't?" Lucy asked.

"Well because... You remember that Christmas present? How would they get you stuff if they didn't know anything about you. So of course I had to tell them about you!" Natsu exclaimed.

"I guess so. But still it's shocking because I knew about the guild and the guild knew about me but I'd never been here until just now. That doesn't happen very often does it?" Lucy asked.

"I guess not, but as long as you're happy, I don't really care how often it happens." Natsu answered simply. The two sat there and ate a breakfast together, Happy still asleep on Natsu's head. They were about to get up when Gajeel, Levy, and Lily came through the guild doors exclaiming, "We're back!" Upon Levy's request, the three stopped by Natsu and Lucy. As they were on their way over, Gajeel overheard their conversation, which happened to be about him.

"Who are they?" Lucy asked.

"The short one is Levy. She loves books as you probably know. Gajeel is the taller one with piercings. He's annoying as hell, but he's fun to fight. Lily is his exceed." Natsu explained.

"Gajeel and Levy doing a mission together? They don't seem like the type that'd get along." Lucy observed.

"Oh you should probably know that Gajeel is an Iron Dragon Slayer. So he's in the same boat as me when it comes to mating. And you see Levy, she's actually his mate. He's laying low about it, because they didn't have the greatest first encounter, but Gajeel is trying his best to win her heart over." He explained.

"Oh." Lucy said, unable to comment further because Levy had approached them.

"Hey Natsu! Is this Lucy? You said she loves books right?" Levy asked, unable to hide the excitement in her voice.

"Yeah I like books a lot. You were the one who sent me the books, right?" Lucy asked.

"Yup! That was me. I'm Levy, by the way. I was hoping to have a new reading buddy around here. From how Natsu described, aside from all the 'she's perfect', you and I seem to have lots of similar interests." Levy said excitedly. The "she's perfect" part caused Lucy to seriously blush. She was really happy that Natsu would think something like that of her, when she thought she wasn't even close to being perfect.

"So Salamander, this is your mate? You snagged her quick. Props to you man, only three weeks." Gajeel said, honestly congratulating Natsu.

"Yep, she's my one and only." Natsu said while wrapping an arm around her and pulling her closer.

"Yuck. You sound like one of those books that shorty reads." Gajeel huffed.

"Gajeel they're romance novels! And they're not disgusting!" Levy said irritated.

"Tch. Whatever." Gajeel said.

"So Lucy, would you like to come see my book collection sometime soon?" Levy asked excitedly.

"Sure, once I'm unpacked and all. I still haven't opened all my stuff. I just got here, actually." Lucy said.

"You already found a place to live? I didn't see you at Fairy Hills." Levy said.

"Actually, I'm living with Natsu. His house is nice, plus since we're together forever, it only makes sense to be in the same house." Lucy said.

"Natsu is letting someone besides Happy live with him? No way!" Levy said.

"Yeah he asked me himself." Lucy said.

"WHAT? When Gray tried to bunk with him back when they were kids he refused him. He didn't even let his childhood friend Lisanna stay there." Levy explained.

"You make it sound like it's some kind of special title to live in my house." Natsu said.

"That's because it is! You don't let anyone in!" Levy said.

"Well she's my mate. What kind of person would I be if I didn't live with her?" Natsu asked.

"Good point." Levy said. "Well I'll meet up with you later Lu! I can't wait to show you my book collection!" She exclaimed. Levy got up and left the table, Gajeel and Lily following behind slowly.

When the three had left, Lucy asked, "Are you sure Gajeel loves her? I can't see it. He calls her shorty and doesn't treat her with much respect."

"He has a.. um.. different... way of showing his affection. But it's pretty obvious he loves her. He went on a mission with her just because her team wasn't there. And it wasn't even a difficult mission either." Natsu explained.

"Yeah it's very different. But if she likes that, then I guess it's good for her." Lucy commented.

"Oh it's definitely clear she loves him back. Otherwise she wouldn't have forgiven him for what he did so easily." Natsu explained.

Just then the guild doors opened again. Another figure stepped inside the building, this one was alone. She had scarlet red hair. Lucy couldn't help but admire her beauty. Then she started walking towards them. She sat down in the chair previously occupied by Levy and said, "Good Morning, Natsu. Mind introducing me?"

"N-not at all. Lucy, this is Erza. Erza, this is Lucy." Natsu said.

"You're Lucy! Wow, Natsu you actually got a normal girl. And she's good looking too!" Erza exclaimed.

"Hey! Since when were you so casual? And of course she's beautiful, it doesn't take much to realize that." Natsu said bluntly.

Both Natsu's and Erza's comments caused Lucy to blush considerably so she didn't say anything.

"Well as Natsu said, I'm Erza Scarlet. If Natsu gives you any trouble you can come to me." Erza said.

"Alright." Lucy said, "Though, knowing him, I don't think he'd hurt me. He's been anything but mean these past few weeks I've known him."

"Really? I'd expect him to be super violent around anyone." Erza said surprised.

"He's had a sleeping Happy on his head for the past few hours. I doubt he'd hurt me." Lucy explained.

"If you say so. I trust that he'll protect you with his life." Erza said sternly, receiving a nod from the dragon slayer. "Alright well I'm going to go pick a mission. What do you say you, Gray, and I go on one together?" Erza asked.

"I can't right now. I want to help Lucy learn magic, and then maybe she could come with us. I'll be able to next week." Natsu said.

"Ok then. The five of us will do a mission next week." Erza said.

"Five?" Natsu asked.

"Yeah. You, Gray, Lucy, Happy, and me. That's five, isn't it?"

"Oh okay!" Natsu said happily.

"In the meantime I'll be around the guild, so speak up if you ever need me." Erza said before getting up and walking away.

"Hey Lucy, you think anyone else will sit down here and talk to us?" Natsu asked.

"I don't know Natsu. Has everyone come back yet?" Lucy asked.

"Yeah just about. As far as I'm aware. Though I can't help but feel as though we're missing something." Natsu said.

"INTRUDERS!" Erza screamed. "IN THE INFIRMARY!"

"-or someone." Natsu said. "Better help them out." The two got up and walked over to Erza who was pointing a sword at the two who were standing just outside the infirmary door. The guild was entirely silent except for the footsteps of Natsu and Lucy.

"Yo Erza, it's ok. It's just some friends I brought with me from Earth. They didn't really have anywhere to go so I told them they could come with us!" He explained.

"What are their names?" Erza asked.

"The blond haired guy is Sting and the black haired guy is Rogue." Natsu said.

"Did you just say Sting? and Rogue?" Erza asked.

"Yup those are their names." Natsu answered.

"Sting and Rogue come with me. We have to go see the master. This is urgent." Erza explained. "MASTER!"

"What is it now, brat?" Makarov asked.

"Sting and Rogue. The two you talked about. They're here." Erza said.

"Oh my. Would the two of you come with me please?" Makarov asked. Both Sting and Rogue nodded before following him into his office. "So you're not from a world with magic, I presume?"

"Nope." Sting answered.

"I happen to know two or so dragons who were looking for two people named Sting and Rogue. They said that the two were from a land without magic. Seeing that you are the two that these dragons seem to be looking for, I was wondering if you were interested in going to them. They'd teach you dragon slayer magic like the magic Natsu has if he's shown you. Would you like to train under them?" Makarov asked.

"Sure, magic power sounds very interesting." Rogue said.

"I agree. I'm all for learning some magic like Natsu has. His roaring thingy is so awesome. He charred up this one person with just one breath!" Sting said while remembering the encounter with the police.

"Great. I'll inform them immediately. You two will train with them for a couple of months at least." Makarov said. "They'll teach you Dragon Slayer Magic."

* * *

"So Natsu, when do we start learning my magic?" Lucy asked.

"Right now, of course!" Natsu said cheerfully.


	16. Chapter 16: New Magic, New Mission!

**Back for a Sixteenth! I have good news! I have come up with an idea for my next stories. They'll most likely be written at the same time, for reasons I'm going to withhold. I'll explain it on the first author's note of the next story. Though I'm not going to be taking it further than a rough outline until I finish this one. So I don't know if you should be excited or not. I'm also really happy about the feedback you've been giving me. It's a pretty good motivator! Don't worry, this story still has a few more chapters left in it!**

* * *

"So Natsu, do you have the keys?" Lucy asked, while standing in an open space behind the guild hall.

"Of course I do!" Natsu said, handing Lucy the keys.

"What was it that I was supposed to say again?" Lucy asked.

"Gramps said something about..." Natsu paused thinking, "Oh yeah! You have to say something like 'Open! Gate of the' and then the Spirit guy's name!" Natsu went to go sit on a log and watch Lucy practice her magic.

"Alright, well here's goes nothing. Hmm though which one should I open first. I'll probably try one of the gold ones and see if I can manage that. How about Leo the lion?" She asked.

"Leo? Didn't you tell me he was the leader of something?" Natsu asked.

"Yeah! The zodiac! He's the one in charge. I'll try him first." Lucy said. "Alright. Open! Gate of the Lion, Leo!"

Suddenly, a man with brownish hair similar to Natsu's, glasses, and suit appeared out of nowhere. Lucy and Natsu looked confused at first, but then Natsu broke the silence by greeting Loke.

"Loke! It's been so long! Where the hell did you go? And why are you here now?"

"It's a long story. I'll explain it later. In short, I'm actually a celestial spirit. I came from the Spirit world. I actually had to run away because I didn't want you guys to find out. Actually only Gramps knew about it. But I guess he didn't tell anyone." Loke explained.

"You're a spirit? Lucy here is practicing her new magic! She tried summoning the leader of zodiac! Does this mean... you're the leader of the zodiac?" Natsu asked.

"Yes I am. I'm Leo, the lion. I used Loke to hide myself from other spirits." Loke said.

"Wow!" Natsu said cheerfully.

"Umm thanks Natsu. Anyways, I should probably make a contract with Lucy before I use any more of her magic. If you said she just started, then it's probably not easy for her to keep my gate open." Loke said.

"Wait so Lucy can summon people as strong as you Loke?" Natsu asked, eyes wide. "That's so cool! So she could have an army of Lokes!"

"Uh..." Loke said sweatdropping, "Not quite. But yes, I'm her spirit, and will serve her for as long as our contract stands." Loke said.

"Anyways, what days are you available Leo or Loke or umm... What should I call you? Leo or Loke?" Lucy asked.

"Loke is fine, my princess." Loke said kissing her hand, making Natsu boil in rage.

"Hey playboy! You can't hit on a married girl!" Natsu shouted.

"Married? She's so young though!" Loke whined.

"Doesn't change the fact that she's married. You can flirt with anyone else besides my Lucy." Natsu answered defensively.

"Natsu... did... you just say _yours?_" Said the dumbfounded Loke. "But I mean she's... hot! How the hell did you get a girl, let alone one that's good looking! Are you sure that you're Natsu Dragneel?"

"Does nobody believe in me these days?" Natsu said sulking. "It's like you think I'm an idiot."

"Umm.." Loke began, "Well... Uh... You see... we kinda did think that. I wouldn't be surprised if they still did."

"Oh great. I was fine with them not knowing that I knew what love was, but this is just killing my pride." Natsu said.

"It's okay Natsu," Lucy said wrapping an arm around him, "You and I both know you're not an idiot." She gave him a bright smile that he couldn't help but smile back at.

"Alright well, we should probably get the contract going." Lucy said, standing up.

A few hours later, Natsu and Lucy, well really just Lucy, were done making contracts with all of her spirits except one. Natsu found each spirit to be quite interesting. He knew Loke already, so that one didn't stick out to him. The two caught his attention though were Virgo and Aquarius. Virgo offered him food and always seemed to want punishment. Natsu didn't understand, but if there was food involved, he would perk up for the opportunity. He was surprised to learn that Lucy's spirits could bring her food. Aquarius stood out because she was surprisingly cold to Lucy until she found out that Lucy was in a relationship (really a marriage), at which point she started to be nice. However, the last spirit in particular caught his eye, this one was small and white, had an orange nose with five lines on it, and shook a lot.

"Hey Lucy, what's up with this guy." Natsu asked.

"Well I was told that the silver keys aren't as valuable. So I think he's like a pet. He takes barely any magic to summon, unlike Loke or Aries." Lucy said.

"Puuu Puuun." The Nikora said.

"What's he saying?" Lucy asked, not understanding.

"Something about being excited to see his new master." Natsu said.

"Aww isn't that cute!" Lucy said while picking up the little guy in her arms.

"Puuu Puuun!" It said happily.

"Hey little guy, do you have a name?" Lucy asked.

"Puu Puun." It answered.

"He says that he doesn't think so." Natsu answered.

"How would you like to be... hmm... Oh I got it! How would you like to be Plue!" Lucy said.

"Puun Pun!" Plue said excitedly.

"He seems set on the name, Lucy." Natsu said cheerfully.

"Okay then Plue. You're Plue!" Lucy said, still holding him in her arms.

The four of them turned to face the sunset looking at how great it looked. As they watched, Lucy thought about how great her new home was. She had new friends, new family. She had everything that she could ever want. Everything was taking a magnificent turn for the better, and she couldn't be happier. And it was all because she met Natsu, in the midst of her loneliness, she found someone who could bring her out of her solitude. Someone who could show her the world from a new perspective.

"Hey Lucy, whatcha thinking about?" Natsu asked, noticing Lucy's stares of into the distance.

"Thank you Natsu." Lucy said, not really answering Natsu's question.

"What for? Did I do something?" Natsu asked confused.

"For bringing me here silly. My life wasn't very good at all until you came into it." Lucy confessed.

"Of course Lucy. I'd do anything for you. You're my mate. And I swear on my life that I'd do anything for you. So you don't need to thank me!" Natsu said, flashing a bright smile.

Taken back by his words, Lucy smiled an extremely sweet and grateful smile before turning to watch the sunset. After it was far enough down, upon Natsu's request, the two went back inside.

"So are we going to go home soon? What time does the guild usually close up?" Lucy asked.

"11:00, but we're having a party tonight!" Natsu said.

"What's the occasion?" Lucy asked.

"You of course!" Natsu said.

"That's really not necessary." Lucy said bashfully.

"Of course it is! Everyone is glad to have you here, especially me!" Natsu said. "So of course we're gonna throw you a party! You deserve one!"

"You guys are just too cute." Mira said, appearing out of nowhere. "It's a match made in heaven! You're definitely letting me plan the wedding!"

"Oh uh.. Hi Mira." Natsu said. "We're not going to get married right away though."

"I know. But nobody else..." Mira said with a seriously evil expression, "will plan that wedding unless they want to die."

"Ok, ok Mira. We understand." Lucy said trying to calm her down.

"Okay then. You want anything to drink?" Mira asked sweetly.

"Umm I'll have a vanilla milkshake." Lucy said.

"Alright be right back then." Mira said, not giving Natsu time to order something. Mira came back with a huge glass filled with vanilla milkshake, more than Lucy could drink.

"Vanilla milkshake for the two of you." Mira said, putting two straws in it.

"Jeez Mira, you know I don't need your help at being 'lovey-dovey'." Natsu said facepalming.

"We both know you're too stupid to do anything on your own that's romantic." Mira said coldly.

"You see what I mean Lucy? They have no faith in me." Natsu said taking a sip of the milkshake, before slumping down against the bar, letting his head rest on the bar.

"Mira you don't have to be so cold. He actually knows a lot about romance." Lucy said. "He just chooses not to show it to everyone else."

"Oh it's so cute how you're standing up for Natsu." Mira said with hearts for eyes.

"Is everything we do cute to you?" Natsu grumbled.

"If you count the both of you drinking that milkshake at the same time, then yes." Mira said. Immediately Natsu and Lucy turned their heads and saw each other drinking at the same time. Filled with embarrassment but at the same time happiness, they smiled at each other before they stopped sipping the milkshake.

"Uhh Mira I think we're gonna need another..." Natsu said before he realized she wasn't there. He looked around a bit before realizing that Mira was nowhere to be found. Then he looked down. "Oh shit. I think she fainted." Natsu said. "LISANNA AND ELFMAN, MIRA FAINTED AGAIN." Natsu screamed out.

Lucy was on edge after hearing that from Natsu. She asked, "Why do you think she fainted?"

"Because she saw us smiling at each other while drinking out of the same drink." Natsu answered.

"She faints because of that?" Lucy said surprised.

"You shoulda seen the day Juvia confessed her love to Gray. Mira was so surprised she fell over after hearing it." Natsu said.

"Juvia confessed to Gray? But I don't remember Gray saying anything about a girlfriend." Lucy said confusedly.

"That's because the ice-pick is too damn dense to know that she's confessing to him. She's obvious about it too, but he doesn't seem to notice it at all." Natsu said.

"Is he really that stupid?" Lucy asked.

"WHO'S CALLING ME STUPID?" Gray shouted causing Lucy to jump.

"I WAS YOU STUPID ICE-PICK." Natsu shouted while jumping on a table.

"WHY'S THAT FIRESTICK? YOU TRYING TO START SOMETHING?" Gray shouted.

"NO, I WAS JUST TALKING TO LUCY ABOUT HOW YOU DON'T SEE WHAT'S RIGHT IN FRONT OF YOU." He retorted.

"WHAT'S THAT SUPPOSED TO MEAN?" Gray asked.

"Enough!" a voice shouted from the second floor. Except this voice wasn't Erza like the two expected. No, it was Makarov's. "You two be quiet. We have important news to discuss. First of all, I'd like to congratulate Lucy for entering the guild. It's always nice to see someone with potential show up. Anyways, I'd like to see Natsu and Lucy in my office right now."

The two called came up and followed Makarov into his office. They sat down in chairs while Makarov spoke to them.

"You two understand there's something special about you, right?" Makarov said.

"You talking about that glowing-wrist thingy?" Natsu asked.

"Yes... _that_." Makarov said.

"Well what about it?" Natsu asked.

"Natsu have you ever heard the story of the Creator of the Worlds?" Makarov asked.

"Is it a book?" Natsu answered with a question.

"Yes." Makarov answered.

"Then nope. Don't know anything that's in a book." Natsu said.

"Well anyways. This is just a myth. But I'm sure you both know it to be true now. You see, in the beginning there was actually a single Creator. It was full of magic and it created this world, Earthland. It blessed this world with magic and the magic through throughout this world. When the Creator was done, it decided that it wanted to make another world. Originally, it intended to make the second world identical to the first. Unfortunately, the second world did not turn out identical to this one. The Creator actually didn't have as much magic power as he thought two create _two_ universes with magic. So the second he gave a magic-permitting spell that allowed the use of magic from Earthlanders. That is why the world you belonged to Lucy didn't have magic. But that's not really important right now. The legend says that when the Creator was done, it believed that it would be able to survive. However the Creator lost enough of its magical power to not be able to exist as it was in this world. So it split into to two, and preserving them in a time spell as to not let their beings escape. For 750 years these souls drifted through the nothingness until they were born in opposite worlds. They would be connected by fate and would be signaled by that one thing. The glowing wrists. You, Natsu and Lucy, are those two drifting souls."

The two were completely surprised. Apparently they were somehow connected to the Creator of their worlds. They had no idea what that meant for them. But they were surprised that they were connected to such powerful forces.

"You see Natsu, that dream you had wasn't just a dream. I hired someone to give you a dream that would list the instructions. In the morning I sent Gajeel to make sure that you were closing in on the right path. He made sure you did and I told him to throw in the book of things you should do. It was a difficult task, but I'm glad you managed to do it." Makarov said.

"Of course I could do it! What can't I do!" Natsu cheered.

"Well, we have a problem actually. And the reason why we got you to go to Earthland was because we needed the combined power of yours and Lucy's. It's the most powerful force on the world. It has the power to annihilate an entire world! Think about that. But it's only controlled by the two wielders, you, Natsu, and you, Lucy. You can control this power and do what you so please with it. But it's extremely difficult. So we're going to need to train you how to use it. The reason why we're so pressed for time on this though is because I have spotted unusual activity at Mt. Hakobe. I wasn't aware of this until recently, but Mt. Hakobe is actually a super-volcano, that is bound to erupt in the coming months. If this were to happen, Magnolia and other nearby cities would be completely destroyed, as well as the ash that would go into the sky could create massive climate changes." Makarov explained.

"How has anyone else not seen this? Couldn't the Magic Council use their Etherion Cannon?" Natsu asked.

"Unfortunately no. They cannot. In fact they haven't detected it. As far as I'm aware, I'm the only one who knows. You see it takes a lot of observation and time in the proximity of Mt. Hakobe to know if there's a volcanic eruption about to happen. So I'm probably the only one that knows. And so you have three months to train and learn these powers before we stop the volcano. I need your help with this." Makarov explained.

"Of course we'd help. I don't think I could stand for something like that happening to this place. It's my home!" Lucy said.

"She's right! We'll do this!" Natsu said cheerfully.

"Thank you, my children." Makarov said happily. "Now let's return to the festivities. Training begins tomorrow. We'll get you two ready to do this in three months!"

"Wait Gramps... Why do we need so much training? Learning techniques doesn't take three months." Natsu said.

"Wyverns... The mountain is infested. There has to be hundreds. It's near suicide going up there. So you have to be careful." Makarov said. "But not to worry, we'll make sure you're ready and send a team with you. Now, children stop distracting me. I want a drink." Makarov got up and left the table to go downstairs.

"So Lucy, you up for this?" Natsu asked cheerfully.

"Of course! We'll definitely do this!" Lucy said smiling.

"You know this means we're the strongest mages in the whole world!" Natsu said happily. "But only when we're together!" He added while hugging Lucy.

"I wouldn't have it any other way." Lucy said.

* * *

**Happy has been on Natsu's head all Chapter, did you know that? Also, apparently on the FT Wiki, it says that Natsu can understand what Plue says, so I decided that'd be a cool thing to include. The story is progressing into its final stages!  
**


	17. Chapter 17: The Mountain Chaos!

**I'd like to start off by thanking you for the reviews. They do help a lot. **

**One of them asked if they could translate the story into Chinese and post it elsewhere. My answer is no. I'm sorry, but I don't want my story to be published by someone else in a language I don't understand. Even if you did put my name on it, I wouldn't be able to understand what the story read and would have no way of confirming it was written the way I intended. I'm sorry, but I hope you understand.**

**Hey guys! Sorry for the delay. I wasn't exactly sure how I wanted to conclude this but I've finally figured out. I can't believe I'm going to be finishing my first story. It's nice to know I didn't give up on it. But don't fret. This isn't the last chapter. Not at all! I still have a few more to go.**

**Anyways, here's a 17th Chapter. Not many left until the next story. Whether that makes you happy or sad, here's a chapter.**

* * *

Some months passed by at the Fairy Tail guild hall. Natsu and Lucy had begun to train together, Lucy learning all of her new celestial magic. By the time the training was over she could open two zodiac gates as well as a silver key. With two spirits out, she could do combo attacks and had many more options as to how she would fight.

Natsu trained his lightning magic under Laxus, and was successfully able to learn more abilities that involved mixing his fire with Laxus's lightning. Natsu also was able to activate his Lightning Flame Dragon mode for longer periods of time.

At home, Happy became Natsu's personal trainer. Happy would coach Natsu on building physical strength as well as more ways to control and unlock dragon slayer secret arts. The two made up for the lost time that Natsu spent in Earth. Their father-son relationship grew even stronger.

Gray and Erza were also training. Since the two often accompanied Natsu on a team, it was decided that they would be Natsu and Lucy's escorts. Of course, Gray coming along meant that a particular Juvia would manage to follow Gray, hiding behind rocks, buildings, and animals. Gray's training was led by Erza, who often pushed Gray beyond his limit. But he would never disobey the great Titania Erza. The woman could kick down a mountain, as Gray had once said.

Natsu and his team were preparing to leave. Natsu had packed his backpack's worth of stuff for both him and Lucy because he didn't want her to have to carry anything. Gray packed a few shirts because he didn't want to always take off the same shirt. Erza didn't pack anything, besides three family worths of stuff that served no purpose other than being there. Happy didn't bring anything besides a couple of fish.

Right before they left, Natsu asked Wendy to cast Troia on him. When they got to the carriage, Natau managed to get a spot next to Lucy. He put his backpack down on his left while Lucy was sitting on his right. Happy was curled up on Natsu's head again. Gray and Erza were on the other side, but little did they know, Juvia was riding on top, listening into their conversations.

Juvia knew this was a big deal to Gray and that was why she wasn't going to directly interfere. But she couldn't stay back at the guild knowing that Gray would be around two girls for a while, even if one of them is married. Juvia considers anyone who goes near her Gray a love rival.

"Wow Natsu, I can't believe we're actually doing this. Destroying an entire mountain!" Lucy exclaimed.

"Yeah, but I'm good at destroying things!" Natsu said causing Gray and Erza to sweatdrop.

"A little too good..." Gray mumbled. Before Natsu could retort, Erza had managed to get them back on topic.

"Ahem. To review, we're going to start by climbing the north side of the mountain. Once we get about halfway, we'll travel east for a bit before heading back up. Of all the possible paths, this one is the safest. There are Wyvern nests at the summit and the base. However we should be able to avoid them if we take this route." Erza said.

"Alright this route makes sense. Is there anything in particult we should take note of?" Gray asked.

"The path we take east might not have the safest ground. Watch your step as rocks can fall anywhere." Erza explained.

"Sounds pretty easy to me. No pounding bad guys?" Natsu asked.

"Not if it goes as planned." Erza said.

"Aww, I was hoping to use my new Lightning Flame Powers." Natsu said pouting.

"Jeez you idiot I don't know how you use both but you probably shouldn't unless you need it. I don't want to cause an avalanche." Gray said.

"Well whatever. How much time until we arrive at the next town?" Natsu asked.

"About 3 hours, it's at the base of Mt. Hakobe." Erza said.

With that, the five went back to their thoughts. About half an hour Lucy leaned towards her left and rested her head against Natsu. Natsu in response moved his right arm and snaked it around her back, leaving his hand on her right waist and pulling her in closer to him. The two drifted off into sleep.

Gray and Erza both noticed the actions between the two. Gray looked a both happy and irked at the scene. While he was happy for Lucy, he wasn't really sure how happy he was that Natsu had a girl before him. It had always been a competition between the two, and he never wanted to lose to the dragon slayer. He didn't rush his love life thinking that he would have all the time in the world when competing against Natsu. Erza, on the other hand, was extremely happy for the two. It wasn't often Natsu showed a softer side to people, even if he was childish and silly. He was only like this around Happy before.

When they got to the hotel, they decided to rent two two-bedroom rooms. Originally, Erza wanted to pair the boys and the girls, but of course their were complaints. Natsu didn't want to bunk with Gray, insisting that he should be with his wife, while Gray decided he wouldn't sleep in the same room is Natsu. As much as Lucy wanted a room with Natsu, she didn't push it because she didn't want to hurt Erza's feelings. Luckily for her, Natsu and Lucy ended up sharing a room.

When they got up the next morning, the four got their equipment ready to hike up the mountain. They departed after breakfast and went towards the top of the mountain. What they didn't know was that they were being followed by someone, someone extremely powerful.

Since the first part was not very steep, they were able to walk up the mountain, rather than climb it. Gray and Erza were in the front while Natsu and Lucy were in the back with Happy flying in between them. It was snowing pretty hard, the sky was a dark grey and the visibility levels were extremely low.

"Hey Lucy, how you holding up?" Natsu asked.

"I-I'm fine, Natsu." Lucy insisted.

"If you say so..." Natsu said while trailing off.

"We're almost at the point where we turn off and head east. It's just up ahead." Erza said.

"Okay, so now we gotta watch for rocks?" Natsu asked.

"Exactly." Erza said.

"Alright! No way am I falling off!" Natsu cheered.

"Can it flame brain. We don't want an avalanche." Gray said.

"Are you saying I'm loud?" Natsu asked in a loud voice.

"That's exactly what I'm saying." Gray stated simply.

"Both of you just p-please s-stop." Lucy said, shivering. "N-now's not the time for f-fighting."

"Okay Lucy, I'll stop." Natsu said in a low voice.

"Jeez she's got you whipped." Gray whispered, knowing well that the dragon slayer could hear him.

"T-thanks N-natsu. I don't n-need an avalanche. It's already cold." Lucy said.

"You're weird." Natsu said.

"Are _you _calling _me_ weird?" Lucy asked, irritated.

"Of course I am. You were cold and said you were fine. That's not fine!" Natsu said.

"I d-didn't want to w-worry you Nats-su." Lucy said.

"Well I don't want you getting hypothermia. So do me a favor and tell me next time." Natsu said while hugging Lucy. He lit his body on fire, allowing Lucy to be completely covered in his flames. Lucy relaxed her tense and cold muscles as she felt the heat flow through her body.

"Stop it Natsu you're gonna kill her!" Gray shouted.

However, the reactions Lucy gave the two suggested otherwise. Strangely, she was enjoying the burning hot flames. They were the hottest flames that Gray and Erza knew, and even though Gray was well accustomed to them, he knew how dangerous they could be.

"It actually feels really good." Lucy said, her voice no longer affected by the cold.

For good measure, Natsu applied a large amount of heat to his scarf and gave it to Lucy. The action caused Lucy, who was starting to feel the cold again, sink into the bliss of warmth. If you looked from the distance, it was evident that steam was rising from the scarf, because the air moisture around it was instantly evaporating.

"Well now that we're all warm, we should head further. Natsu you can't be so reckless. That could have killed her." Erza said.

"Actually it wouldn't." Natsu said, "My magic cannot injure her, even if I wanted to. She's immune."

"Very well. Anyways, we're here at our first stop. We should continue halfway down this trail and we'll set up camp at nightfall." Erza explained.

The four walked down the path. They were rather unaffected by the cold, so they made pretty good time. As night began to fall, they set up their tents. Of course, Natsu pushed to share one with Lucy, and Erza reluctantly agreed knowing that Gray and Natsu would probably cause an avalanche when they woke up.

Natsu set up their tent. It wasn't too difficult, when Natsu decided to pick up the instructions. Of course, thinking he didn't need them, he wasted thirty minutes trying to set it up without them and another ten looking for the instructions in the snow. By the time their tent was done and their things inside, Gray and Erza had already made a makeshift fire pit for Natsu to light.

After some time, they decided to return to their tents. Natsu fell asleep almost immediately. Lucy decided it would be a good time to stargaze, since it was a clear night and she had some alone time. She stood up out of her tent, and walked up the mountain little. When she decided on a spot, still with the warm scarf around her neck, she laid down in the snow and stared up. A few minutes later she heard footsteps and was afraid that they had noticed her sneaking out. Her suspicions were confirmed when Natsu showed up right next to her, laughing about how she could have just told him.

"Yeah well I didn't want to disturb you Natsu." Lucy said.

"You took me out to see the stars before, so what makes you think I wouldn't come again?" Natsu asked.

Lucy giggled and said, "I guess you're right. Though you looked awfully peaceful while asleep." She added, "It was rather cute."

"Guys aren't cute!" Natsu exclaimed, a little irritated.

"You haven't watched yourself sleep. It's actually really adorable." Lucy said playfully.

"What? I am not adorable! I'm a guy! A guy isn't adorable!" Natsu said, even more irritated.

"Oh yeah well you certainly are." Lucy said, pushing him even more.

"Oh yeah, well..." Natsu tried to retort, but couldn't find anything. So instead he kissed her, right there in that dark snow covered mountain. The wind could have picked up and they would have had no idea, because they didn't know what was going on around them, only each other.

"Would you two love-birds please stop making out up there and come get some sleep? We're leaving early tomorrow and I don't want to deal with your bitching." Gray shouted up.

"Gray! Don't be so rude." Erza said pounding him on the head. "But he is right. You two should come down and get some sleep. We're leaving at sunrise."

"Be right down!" They both said.

"I thought you came to look up at the stars." Natsu said.

"It's alright, I think I got something better than a good view of the stars." Lucy said.

The next morning, the five woke up at sunrise and headed out. They packed their stuff quickly, Natsu warmed his scarf and Lucy up again. When the five were ready to go, they saw some snow falling from high above them.

"AVALANCHE!" Lucy shouted.

"Everyone behind me!" Gray shouted. The four others hid behind him and Gray proceeded to shout, "Ice-Make, Dome!" A dome of ice surrounded the four of them and the snow from the avalanche passed over. They all watched in awe as they saw the snow go by, flying over the dome. When the avalanche stopped, Natsu ignited his fist and melted out through the side an exit to all the snow.

"Jeez what the hell coulda caused that?" Natsu said irritated.

"I don't know. Maybe Wyverns. After all they do have nests up here." Gray explained.

"Yeah but still, I don't know. They probably don't make avalanches like that everyday." Natsu reasoned.

Before the five could figure out what the hell caused the avalanche, the perpetrator stepped forward.

"It was I. I didn't expect you to survive it though. I had no idea he was an Ice-Make mage." The man said, standing over.

"If you think a lousy avalanche would take us out then you've got another thing coming." Gray said.

"It doesn't matter, all that does is that I get the two people here who are capable of using the One Magic." He said.

"Nobody here uses the One Magic. Furthermore, we all use our own magic. No one here practices the same magic." Erza explained.

"That's a lie. I know Makarov was practicing that magic with two particular mages." The old man explained.

"How do you know Makarov!?" Natsu shouted.

"That's not important. What is important is that I take you and find the One Magic Users so that I can learn it for myself." He explained.

"We aren't going anywhere with you!" Lucy said.

"Fine then, I'll just take you with me." He said. He shot out magical chains that wrapped around the four of them and pulled them in. The chains were extremely powerful and none could escape them.

"I knew you were no match for me. You are much weaker than expected." The man said.

"Yeah and who the hell do you think you are to call as weak?" Gray shouted.

"Can you not see? You can't do anything when you're tied up like this." He said while pointing to it.

"Do your chains work against water?" Gray asked.

Before he could answer, Juvia came out of nowhere and broke the chain with a water slicer.

"Thanks Juvia." Gray said.

"Anything for my beloved!" Juvia responded with hearts in her eyes.

"Natsu and Lucy, continue up the mountain. The three of us will fend off this person as long as we can." Erza commanded.

"Okay! Come on Natsu, let's go." Lucy shouted while taking Natsu's hand. Instead of gripping her hand back, he told her to get on her back. When she agreed, he created fire around his feet and flew the two up.

"Natsu you never told me you could fly!" Lucy said in more of a shout as the airflow was drowning out their voices.

"Well I don't like to if I don't have to but it's the most effective way of getting up without you getting hurt." Natsu explained. "Plus it's the quickest."

"Okay well how far are we?" Lucy asked.

"About halfway. My magic will take us up three quarters, and the rest we'll have to hike out. But don't worry, we're flying over the steepest part." Natsu said while pointing to the extremely steep mountain.

"Okay, so how long are we going to be flying for?" Lucy asked.

"About five minutes." Natsu answered.

"What do you want to talk about?" Lucy asked.

Natsu paused and thought for a while. "Hey Lucy! Is the guild as great as you thought it was?"

"Even better!" Lucy said smiling.

"Good, I wouldn't want our home to be unpleasant for you. Anyways, do you have wedding plans?" Natsu asked out of the blue.

"Wedding plans! Are you sure? We're kinda young you know!" Lucy said. "No I don't! But when do you want to have an official marriage?"

"Hopefully before our first kid!" Natsu said smiling.

The rest of the fly was silent, both trying to restrain from talking because their throats were aching from all the shouting they just did. When Natsu and Lucy got to the point where they'd begin to walk, Natsu set Lucy down.

"Jeez it's getting hard to breathe up here." Lucy said.

"Yeah it is. It's the low air pressure kicking in." Natsu said.

"Well let's get going. I can't wait to get back home and enjoy some warmth for once." Lucy said.

"Yeah me too. This cold reminds me too much of the damn stri-"

Natsu couldn't finish his sentence because there was a loud roar. It was loud, but it didn't sound anything like a dragon. Which only meant one thing.

"Oh crap!" Natsu said. "I forgot we were supposed to go east for a while before flying up. We're in the wyvern territory!"

"What do we do?" Lucy asked. "Can we fight them?"

"Not a chance in hell. These guys are strong as hell, and at this air pressure we'd run out of breath faster than ice-freak can freeze the guild." Natsu said worriedly.

"Alright where do we go?" Lucy asked.

"East, we have to continue east before we walk north again. Once the nest is out of site, we continue to walk up the mountain." Natsu said.

"Alright let's go before they fi-"

A large force struck the ground between the two before they turned around to see the wyvern. Wasting no time, Natsu screamed out, "LUCY!", before he grabbed her and used his fire again to light up the bottom of his feet. He pressed forward, moving as fast as he could while flocks of wyverns chased after them.

"N-Natsu they're right behind you!" Lucy shrieked.

"I know that! I can't do much now. I have to keep going!" Natsu said.

"But you've already used most of your magic power. You can't keep going like this!" Lucy shouted.

"I rather lose my magic power than lose you Lucy." Natsu answered.

Taken back by his answer, she found it hard to continue asking him questions, "Is there anything I can do to help?"

"Yeah, keep yourself from getting hurt." was all Natsu managed to say.

Natsu started flying up towards the top of the mountain. He kept going and going. He had to be extra careful since Lucy was in his arms. He started scaling the mountain again. He went higher and higher, and had scaled about 85% before he started running out of magic power.

"N-Natsu you have to stop. You're going to hurt yourself!" Natsu said.

"If I stop, those wyverns will catch up, and if they do, your life will be at risk. I'm not going to let that happen!" Natsu answered.

"But Natsu..." Lucy said, saddened by the condition Natsu was in.

"Shh. Don't worry Lucy, I'll be fine." Natsu said, trying to calm the blonde.

Just as he finished his sentence, something hooked around his leg and started pulling against it. He turned around and saw it. The thing he was afraid most to see. The white chain, attached to his left leg, preventing him from advancing. There was only that one person who could summon those chains. His eyes went wide when he saw that same old bearded person down a couple hundred feet trying to pull him down. Natsu kept flying but was unable to gain any distance. Fortunately he didn't lose any either.

"LUCY! I need your help! Can you summon a spirit to attack the guy down there!" Natsu said.

"I can't reach my keys! They're too far!" Lucy said panicked. "Can you grab them Natsu?"

"No this guy is pulling me down so I can't use my legs and if I move my arms you're going to fall." Natsu explained.

"Is there anything we can do?" Lucy asked.

"There is one. But are you sure you want to?" Natsu asked.

"Yes, I'll do whatever it takes!" Lucy said proudly.

"Alright then, I'm going to discharge some lightning into you. Please strike him. You only have one shot at this." Natsu said.

"Then I won't fail!" Lucy reassured him.

Natsu sent lightning through the palms of hands into Lucy's body. She immediately felt a strange magic run through her. She shouted out to Natsu, "I'm going to fire it!"

"Do it NOW!" Natsu said.

Lucy shot a bolt of lightning from her body that hit the old man directly in the face. The electricity quickly shocked spread throughout his body and he unwillingly let go of the chain.

"Great job Lucy!" Natsu cheered, making Lucy smile brightly. He flew up a bit further, and the two had reached the summit. Natsu was out of magic power, while Lucy still had most of hers.

"Jeez Lucy, I'm all out of power. We're gonna have to wait a bit to use this spell because I'm absolutely tired." Natsu said slumping down against a rock.

"Alright I'll wait. I guess that transfer took the last of your energy out of you." Lucy said, lying down next to him and resting her head on his shoulders.

"Yeah, well it's okay though. You were awesome! And to think you're afraid of lightning!" Natsu said enthusiastically.

"I guess I was more afraid of being dragged down by him then I was of using it." Lucy reasoned.

"Either way, do you have any matches or something?" Natsu asked.

"Yeah we were supposed to bring some for the lanterns." Lucy explained while looking in Natsu's bag for a pair of matches.

"Can I eat them? It'd make my magic come back faster." Natsu asked.

"Of course, here you go." Lucy said handing him the bag of matches.

Natsu began to eat them one at a time, lighting it and then popping the match in his mouth, eating the flame and throwing the match down the mountain. He repeated this twenty times until there were none left.

"Thanks a ton Lucy! I'm gonna be perfectly fine to do the spell now." Natsu said standing up. He reached his hand out for Lucy to grab and he pulled her up. They walked to the highest point they could get to before they couldn't see any higher.

"Let's hurry this so we can get back down to where you can actually breathe." Lucy said.

"Yeah I'm all for it. Ready?" Natsu asked.

Before the spell even began to get cast, Natsu and Lucy heard a voice from behind them saying, "You will do no such thing!"

Natsu turned around and was face-to-face with the old bearded man. "And who are you to tell me what I can and cannot do!"

"I'm Hades, I've been searching for the One Magic my entire life!" Hades shouted.

"And so what? Just because your love life sucks ass doesn't mean you need to interfere in mine!" Natsu snarled at him.

"Love life? What nonsense are you speaking of? The one magic has nothing to do with love!" Hades shouted.

"Oh yeah? You see these flames?" Natsu said holding up some flames in his hand, "If love is not the one magic... Then why are these flames powerless against the woman I love?" Natsu immediately threw the flames to Lucy who didn't even feel the burn of them.

"Can't you see?" Natsu began. "My Dragon-Slayer Magic is among the greatest forms of magic! And it can't even lay a scratch on a girl. Because a more powerful magic is protecting her. The magic of love!"

"NONSENSE! You think I'd fall for something as foolish as that?" Hades spat angrily. "There's no way that the one magic could be love! If it was, then Zeref never would have been so powerful!"

"That's because love doesn't show its magic strength to everyone. Love protects two people. It doesn't harm others. The dark mage Zeref could never use the One Magic because he couldn't love. Neither can you!" Natsu said back.

"You cannot believe that One Magic is a path in the light." Hades stated.

"OH YEAH? Then why was the creator of this world split into two people? A boy and girl? Destined to fall in love? Isn't it obvious? They need each other to use that magic. Without their bond, their magic is useless. My power is only as strong as my love for Lucy!" Natsu screamed. "I can't use this power on my own. Without her I'm just a normal fire dragon slayer! It's my other half that makes me stronger!"

"You are beyond foolish. You cannot even comprehend how powerful you are, and you don't even know why." Hades answered.

"Of course I know why! Because if it weren't for love, I would be able to attack her. Our love protects us!" Natsu shouted.

"No matter, you will still come with me. I'm going to take you home to my dark guild with that blonde and I'll steal the one magic right out of you." Hades said.

"No chance in hell!" Natsu shouted.

Hades shot a chain around both Natsu and Lucy pulling them together. They were stuck together and unable to move their arms.

"You think this rope can hold me?" Natsu growled.

"Of course I do. You can't bash through it unless you used all your magical energy, which you don't have much of since you used so much to get up here." Hades said.

Natsu started lighting the bottoms of his feet. He was going to take off backwards in the opposite direction.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you. You might want to see what's behind you." Hades said.

Natsu turned around and saw all the wyverns. There had to be at least five of them headed right for the three. Before he could react, he saw Lucy smirk and he then placed all his trust into her to get them out of this.

"Open! Gate of the Virgin, Virgo!" Lucy shouted while clutching the key.

"Yes princess, is my assistance needed?" Virgo asked.

"Please get rid of this magical chain." Lucy instructed.

"Right away, princess." Virgo said.

Hades went to attack Virgo but she dug a hole in the ground and continued to try to break the chain with her power. She finally managed to break it, freeing Natsu and Lucy.

"Okay, done princess. Was I too slow? Would you like to punish me?" Virgo asked.

"Of course not! You can return now." Lucy said, while Virgo disappeared.

Natsu and Lucy hopped out of the hole and Hades began shooting magical bullets from the tips of his fingers towards Lucy. Natsu jumped in the way receiving the pain. Since they were not fatal, Natsu was able to stand up afterward, but was still shaky. And he still had to worry about the approaching wyverns from behind. He didn't have time for any of this! He had to stop the volcano before it was too late!

"It looks like you're running out of time, boy." Hades said. "You can either come with me or be victims of the wyverns. I'm sure they'd love the taste of two young humans."

Natsu was not going to let the wyverns get to them. But he wasn't going anywhere with this guy. Wherever he was going, he had to make sure Lucy was safe. So he was conflicted. He didn't have any options. He didn't have anytime. If this kept up, he wouldn't only lose his own life, but the life of his lover Lucy. If only he had some backup! His friends were down the mountain, probably hurt. He didn't want to think they were dead. There's no way they could be! But how'd this guy get through them so easily? And what was up with his extremely powerful chains? What could Natsu do? Was he helpless? Should he just give it up. Never! He couldn't do that. But what could he do?

"How about I choose to kill you instead, you ol' geezer." A new voice shouted.

"It's not in our nature to let a friend fall in times of need." A second voice shouted.

Suddenly out of nowhere, a fist came crashing into the side of Hades's face. It sent Hades flying backwards. When the two looked up, they saw Sting, standing proud as he punched the old man out of the way. Rogue was on the other side, fending off the wyverns while Natsu and Lucy were completely free to speak the incantation.

"You didn't think we'd let you die without our consent?" Sting said.

"This man has no right to harm our comrades." Rogue added.

"Thank you. Alright Lucy! Time for the incantation." Natsu said.

"Okay, you ready?" Lucy said. "I already sent Virgo back, so we're ready to go!"

"Alright here goes nothing." Natsu said, taking Lucy's hand in his. They stood straight up, and a magic circle began to glow around their feet in a bright gold color.

"By the power of the Creator of this world and its complement, we, the two halves, call upon the power that we were created from, the power that we use, and the power that we create ourselves. Using our own elements, we use the One Magic to destroy this mountain!" Natsu and Lucy said aloud.

The circle beneath their feet grew from a bright yellow to a sparkling red and yellow. It expanded out several hundred feet, encompassing the whole mountain. At the edge of the circle, light beamed up and down, forming a single large beam that the entire mountain was concealed in. Natsu and Lucy began to float inside of the beam, whilst their allies stood in admiration. Hades also looked in awe, though he was fully prepared to harness this for himself. The mountain began to crumble, from the top down, rocks breaking down into smaller and smaller pieces that just vanished into thin air. The rocks broke their way down the mountain and once they reached the bottom, a field of grass was left in its place. On this field of grass lay Erza, Gray, Juvia, and Happy. Sting, Rogue, Natsu, and Lucy stood facing Hades.

"Your power is indeed incredible, but that's not anything boast about. You may destroy a mountain but you cannot take me too!" Hades shouted.

"Oh yeah? Aren't you forgetting about the secret of your power? The link between you and your ship that replenishes your magic? We may have just busted it using that spell." Natsu said.

"Wha-What? No way!" Hades said. "There's nothing that can break that connection link! It's the most powerful form of magic there is!" Hades shouted.

"It's not that powerful if we destroyed it. Has that ever been tested against the One Magic?" Natsu asked.

"You'll pay for what you've done." Hades said.

"Avoiding the question are we. It seems as though you underestimated us. You see, Gramps told us about you being a potential threat to our guild. We know all about your magic." Natsu explained. "How it relies on the Devil's eye. So we destroyed that link from you while we destroyed the mountain. Convenient huh?"

"Natsu, I believe we can handle this guy, since you are rather worn out." Rogue said.

"Yeah let us take care of this old guy. We're gonna pound him into next week!" Sting said.

"Alright you two, have fun!" Natsu said.

Sting and Rogue attacked the now weakened Hades and managed to defeat him easily. When they were done, Hades was knocked unconscious, although, it didn't really matter since Sting insisted that his arms and legs be broken.

"So Lucy, feeling better?" Natsu asked.

"Yeah a little. I'm glad to be off that cold mountain." Lucy said.

"What cold mountain? I don't see one." Natsu joked, causing Lucy to giggle.

"That's 'cause we destroyed it you big idiot!" Lucy said playfully hitting him.

"You betcha! And we can go back to the guild and have fun like old times. Though we might want to wake up the sleeping beauties over there." Natsu said.

"Gray! Erza! Juvia! Happy!" Natsu yelled. They began to get up slowly, having headaches and not realizing where they were.

"...Is this the... golden plains?" Erza asked, "Are we dead?"

"Oh shit I didn't want to die. I still haven't told Juvia that I like her back." Gray said worriedly.

"Oh Graaaaaay! Juvia heard that! It's okay because Juvia loves you!" Juvia said with hearts in her eyes.

"Of course not! You're all alive! This is formerly Mt. Hakobe!" Natsu explained.

"So we're not dead?" Erza asked.

"Of course not!" Natsu said.

"So I just confessed to Juvia without knowing?" Gray said.

"Yeah you did. And it was pretty sweet too. Though I'm surprised it'd take you a near death experience to admit you like her." Lucy said.

"It's okay Gray, Juvia loves Gray! And Juvia will make Gray happy!" Juvia said.

"How'd you guys get away from him without dying?" Lucy asked.

"Well it's actually thanks to Gray," Erza said. "You see, before Hades killed us, Gray made some ice-make sculptures of us using some of the frozen blood coming out of him. (It wasn't 100% blood, just some parts had blood). That way it looked like he killed us, but actually he killed the ice sculptures! And we hid inside a cave until we felt better. We were going to come back and help you, but we couldn't get there fast enough."

"It's okay, it worked out in the end." Lucy said smiling.

"Yeah thanks to Sting and Rogue." Natsu added. "By the way, where are those guys?"

"Probably still beating up Hades." Lucy said.

A minute later the two came back and Sting asked, "Was someone talking about me?"

"We were wondering how you knew to come for us." Natsu said.

"Well the old guy Makarov sent us to train with these dragons. They had to put a lacrima thingy or that's what they called it into me and Rogue. Then we learned Dragon slayer magic. I know Light dragon slayer magic and Rogue knows shadow dragon slayer magic. After a few months of training, the old guy at the guild place you talked about called us up and told us that we should help Natsu out because 'he's afraid that there will be some added trouble'. Anyways we came and found some old guy trying to beat you up so we helped you out." Sting explained.

"Oh so you're dragon slayers too! That's awesome!" Natsu cheered.

"We should probably get back to the guild before the Magic Council shows up and asks us why there's a mountain here one day and nothing the next." Gray said.

With that, the eight of them got up and headed home to Fairy Tail.

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**Super Long Chapter Much! 6,000 words! Wow!**

**_IMPORTANT QUESTION:_****I didn't use it in this story because it was too late once I thought about it, but I was wondering if you, my readers, like it better if Natsu gives Lucy the nickname Luce or not. Please tell me what you think! Luce or no Luce? (This is a question for my next story by the way.)**

**I decided to make this be highlight of the return to Earthland. I needed a reason for Natsu to find Lucy in the first place, even though I spent most of the time trying to get Natsu to confess to Lucy and such. That's why most of the story is spent in Earth while the main objective is to return to Earthland and stop the volcano. Anyways, I'll see you one more time for the last chapter!**


	18. Chapter 18: Happily Ever After

**Seriously sorry for long delays. It wasn't my fault though. I've been working nonstop, I wrote the plot for Dragon's Roar, the One-Shot, and finally this. Plus, after finishing the plot line, I have to write the actual story's first chapter. So that's why it's taken so long. I'm sorry for the delays, and this shouldn't happen again. (It's the pain of switching from one story to the next).**

**Wow, last chapter of this story! I guess I'll leave my thoughts on the story up here!**

**First, I'd like to tell you that this is a triple posting day! I'm posting a One-Shot, The final chapter to TCTW and the first chapter to Dragon's Roar (my new story) today! Yay content! Did I mention they're all NaLu? Well they are, because that's all I write.**

**Secondly, I never really discussed why I'd choose this topic. If you're wondering exactly why I picked this for my first story, it's because this topic is so extremely open, it's not even funny. You can do both non-magical and magical worlds in one story, and you can have just about anything happen! I wrote this story to test out different scenarios and which ones I prefer to write in. So that helped me pick the next story I'm going to write.**

**As I just said, the next story I'm writing is called Dragon's Roar. It's a high school AU that sort of picks on the "nice girl falling for the delinquent" storyline. You'll see what I mean when it gets off its feet. But for now, you can know it's NaLu. The whole story will be in Lucy's PoV! Just like everything else I write. Please check it out!**

**As a first story, did I do pretty good? I hope so! Thanks for reading it!**

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Natsu, Lucy, Gray, Erza, Juvia, Sting, Rogue, and Happy returned to the guild that evening. They immediately went to the master's office, and discussed the events of the mission.

When Hades was mentioned, Makarov had to explain that he was actually the second guild master, in search of the one magic. Apparently, when he resigned from the duty of being guild master, he was still a good guy. It wasn't until after he left that he became a threat. Aside from them all being shocked, they were glad they made it back. The world was safe from a natural disaster for a while.

Sting and Rogue returned to their dragons to continue training. The rest of the guild went back to normal, Natsu and Lucy included. The five decided to form a team, much to Juvia's dismay. Gray reassured her, telling her that she'd be able to accompany them on a mission every now and then. Together, they formed "The Strongest Team in Fairy Tail."

Natsu and Lucy often took missions with Happy on their own. They considered themselves partners, and thus a mini-team. Lucy took notice to how much they looked like a family. She and Natsu decided that they'd wait a bit longer before they have children, that way Lucy can explore the country. Lucy was totally up for the idea. Besides, they weren't even married yet, though they were technically bound for life.

Lucy was able to see much of the world thanks to Natsu's team taking missions that were far out. When it was Natsu or Lucy's turn to pick the mission, they went for the ones with the town names that Lucy has never been to. After only two years, Lucy had been to every major city in the nation of Fiore.

When the Magic Council caught wind of the missing mountain, they searched high and low around the site but were unable to come up with any answer. The only power that could have done something like that was Etherion, but even that would've taken a long time to do. Natsu and Lucy laughed when they read the paper that morning that showed the missing mountain before and after.

Their One Magic wasn't infinite, so they made sure that they only used it when they needed. The magic was the icing on the cake that made Team Natsu the strongest team in Fairy Tail.

Natsu and Lucy ended up getting married only two years after returning to Earthland. It was after they had finished their travels that they decided that it would be a good time to settle down. Thankfully, there wasn't anything big going on.

A year and three months later, Natsu and Lucy had a daughter named Nashi. When Nashi was three, Juvia became pregnant with Gray's son. When Gray had difficulty picking baby names, Nashi walked up to him and gave him a color wheel. She explained that Gray and his father Silver are both named after colors, so he should name his son a color too. And that's when the guild found out Nashi got Lucy's smarts.

Natsu and Lucy did once return to Earth. In that time they met Jude, Lucy's father. Jude welcomed Natsu in like the son he never had. Jude seemed to have realized the error of his ways and wanted to start over. Natsu told him that he would be a frequent visitor. In the end, he was.

Natsu, Lucy, and Nashi lived together under one roof. Of course the little kid wasn't cheap considering she ate like Natsu, but they managed. As Natsu and Lucy got stronger and took harder jobs, they brought in more money to pay for Nashi and the rest of their expenses. They weren't a perfect family, but they were definitely a happy one.

Lucy's life wasn't perfect. Of course she had some bad days, some days where she just didn't want to get up. She thought about her life if that pink haired dragon slayer never showed up. Would she be lonely? Or even worse would she be with that cheating bastard Dan? Lucy didn't know, but she never once wanted to, because she was more than happy with her new life. And it was all thanks to that Natsu Dragneel.

**THE END**

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**Sorry it was short, but there wasn't much to write about.**

**Special Thanks to SnowFairyPrincess for being my first and most active reviewer.**

**Thanks to Rapunzel3, Rose's Shadow, tomfo, SnowAngelSlayerTasha, platinum-breaker, richgirl555cub, Seiqi, Featherleap, and orionxD for reviewing. It was you who helped me finish this story! I hope to see you in the next!**

**Also to Skylar Dragneel, who happened to review after I finished this chapter! You get added because you made me feel happy.**


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